From the darkest of Shadow, a Light is born
by Ocadioan
Summary: The second part of my A dance of Shadow and Light series. It starts 85 years after the previous story, where an amnesic and hunted Mercury have to settle down in anonymity, but when the riders come knocking and a new threat emerges in Alagaësia, his hand is forced and he must confront his scarred and forgotten memories of the Shadow War. Contains a darker and more ruthless Mercury
1. A new beginning

People of Fanfiction, I have returned!  
Sorry, always wanted to be able to say that, but well I have returned with the next part of my A dance of Shadow and Light series, so it is true.  
My absence was quite well spent actually, as I have managed to plan out almost the entire plotline already, and have made a buffer of 13 chapters, so that even if I do not have time to write a single thing until Christmas, I will not miss a single update and can then catch up in that holiday.  
Seriously I have aready crossed the 50.000 words mark and have only just uploaded something.

Because of a tighter schedule this time around, I will only be updating the chapter once a week, this time being Monday.

**Again I have some starting information(in case you have forgotten):**  
_Italic spelling means that the person is either thinking to himself or sending thoughts to others_  
"**Fat spelling inside quotation marks means that the character is speaking in the Ancient language**"  
"_Italic spelling inside quotation marks means that the character is speaking in the dwarven language_"

Other than that, have fun

* * *

**A new beginning**

**Mercury POV  
**Mercury was walking among the booths just outside of Hedarth, where merchants were constantly trying to attract the attention of any new buyers. For today's visit to Hedarth, Mercury had chosen to wear a couple of blue contact lenses, along with a brownish pair of breeches, a sturdy brown tunic and a well-worn travelling cloak.

His physical appearance had not aged beyond that of any normal human of around 25 years of age, if you overlooked his eyes, which he always kept hidden behind contact lenses of various colours, but Mercury was far from any normal 25 year old human, as he was in fact well past his 100th birthday already.

Kilgharrah's magic had influenced him, so that he did not age beyond this age, just like the human dragon riders, although he shared no such bond with Kilgharrah. Mercury had theorized that the reason why this particular age had been chosen as the stop, had been because it was around here that the human body stopped it's development from childhood to adult.

Hedarth had expanded quite a lot since the establishment of the dragon rider city in the east, as it now served as a focal trade point, but in the last few weeks, Hedarth had experienced a significant increase in inhabitants.

The reason behind this increase was the same reason that Hedarth's outer fields had been littered with booths, stalls, tents of all kinds of colours and enough decorations to decorate the entire Ilirea; it was the annual celebration of the day where Arya Shadeslayer and Eragon Shadeslayer gave up their lives in Alagaësia to journey east and establish the new order of the dragon riders.

Suddenly a merchant came up directly in front of Mercury, where he began to show him some of his finest jewels, while saying, "best jewels in all Hedarth to the best prices. I promise you that with one of these, you could even win the heart of an elven lady, like the great Eragon Shadeslayer did".

Eragon and Arya had officially become mated a few years after they had left Alagaësia, which had apparently been the source of much gossip and many love poems in Alagaësia at the time. From what Mercury had been able to scrape together, they had even had had a son about 50 years later, which had become a dragon rider like his parents, and they had apparently recently had a daughter too.

"No, thank you. I do not have the money to spare", Mercury grunted, as he tried to wave the irritating merchant away, but the man would just not take no for an answer.

"Oh, but they are very cheap", the merchant continued, before he shoved a pendant directly in front of Mercury's face, "just look at the fine craftsmanship in this. The dragon's body is pure gold, while its wings are made of silver from the dwarves, and its eye is made from a real emerald. Only 25 gold coins".

Even while wearing his contact lenses, which severely lessened his enhanced eyesight, Mercury could still see the small stains of rust on the edges of the wings and the scratches on the emerald, so he decided to try and stop this irritating man now, before Mercury would become so irritated on him that he might make an incident.

In a deathly low whisper he said to the still rambling merchant, "there is rust on the edges of the so called silver wings and the coloured glass in its eye has visible scratches, so stop trying to sell it to me, before I decide to tell everyone that your jewels are just as worthless as your word".

The merchant paled significantly, before he quietly left Mercury to go pester someone else. After he had gone, Mercury breathed a sigh of relieve to finally be rid of this pestilence, who merely tried to exploit the ignorant people at such celebrations.

He stopped at a bench, where he made to sit down, while he looked at the banner saying: The 85th anniversary of the beginnings of the new age of dragon riders.

It had been 86 years since Galbatorix had been slain in the city that had at the time been named Urû'baen, 85 years since Eragon, Arya and Kilgharrah had left for the east, after which a new war had sprung up, which had just ended 12 years ago.

The war had been dubbed the Shadow War, which had mostly been because most of it had been fought in and from the shadows, and even today, 12 years later, only a fraction of what had occurred in it had been uncovered. The history books and various scholars had accumulated what they had knew about the war in a collected book, which they themselves had said was far from finished.

According to the book, the war had been a struggle between the remnants of the Black Hand combined with all who still supported Galbatorix's rule, either by choice or forced oaths, against various secret organisations of both the Empire and Surda, and the figure known as Mercury Iridium.

Many discussions had been raised about how big of a role Mercury really had had in this war, but it was without a doubt that had he not been there, the war might still have been on-going. As it was now, the war had officially ended with the Purification of Ilirea, as the final battle was being called by the commoners, where Mercury had apparently led a band of fighters into the heart of Ilirea to purge out the last remaining stronghold of the Black Hand and kill its last leader, whose identity to this day was still unknown.

After the war Mercury had vanished completely from public view, and most considered him dead of old age, although the mage's order had never officially ceased their search for him, as his body had never been found and he was still technically a rogue magician on the loose. The history book's only description of him was when he was in his full armour, which also concealed most of his face from view, and without his contact lenses on, so that his silver dragon-like eyes were clear and prominent.

Cults had even sprung up around the public's perceived image of Mercury, which in Mercury's mind was quite ironic, when you took into consideration, how much he detested cults.

Despite his apparently major role in the war, Mercury could remember none of it. His first memory, since Eragon, Arya and Kilgharrah had left, had been 79 years later, where Mercury and Kilgharrah had returned to Alagaësia from the east.

He had then been able to scrape together what had happened during the time of the war from various history books, a few scholars and the gossip of the land. In the period between the war's ending and his memory's return, he had written some journals, which had shed light on both what had happened during this period of time, and had deterred Mercury from wanting to regain his memories of what had occurred in the war, as it had apparently had quite significant repercussions to his mental stability.

During the years following his and Kilgharrah's return from the east, Kilgharrah had pressed Mercury to try and find somewhere, where Mercury could settle in. Mercury had tried living in various cities all across Alagaësia, although none had been able to make him feel at home, which had meant that he had hardly spent more than half a year to a year at each place, before he sold his house, packed up his things and moved away again.

Even this visit to Hedarth during the celebration had been at Kilgharrah's insistence, despite the fact that HE got to fly around and enjoy himself, while Mercury was stuck here among the countless people, who either tried to sell him something or was too busy to watch where they were going, so that he constantly had to adjust his course to avoid stumbling into them.

With a defeated sigh, Mercury got up from his bench and began to head away from the celebrations. This had been the last attempt at fitting in, Mercury had been willing to make, and it had turned out as just as much of a disappointment as all the previous attempts.

_Kilgharrah, I am leaving, Mercury mentally told Kilgharrah, who had been flying unnoticed on the outskirts of Hedarth._

_So soon? You have not even had a chance at courting any of the women there yet. Perhaps all you need is something more permanent to settle you down, Kilgharrah replied in a smug voice._

_Just because you have had more than a dozen hatchlings, does not mean that I want to, Mercury replied in a slightly tired and slightly annoyed voice, __but you may have a point in that I need something more permanent to settle down._

_What are you thinking about?, Kilgharrah asked intrigued._

_Well, I still have that deed to get a mountain in the Spine, Mercury answered, __perhaps I could build myself a proper home there._

_But I thought that you wanted to have access to a library at the place where you wanted to settle down?, Kilgharrah asked confused, __is that not why we have spent the last six years travelling between cities with libraries large enough for your taste?_

_You are right in that that is why we have travelled to these cities, but since none of them have been to my liking, I believe that it would be time to not move towards the library, but have the library move towards us, Mercury cryptically replied, as he neared the secluded place, where they had agreed to meet._

_Some more explanation would be nice, Kilgharrah replied, as he swooped down and landed in front of Mercury._

_I was thinking of building my own library on the mountain, Mercury replied, __I could then have copies of most of the other major libraries in Alagaësia's content sent there. It should then be free to enter and study there, except that you have to supply some sort of contribution to the library, which is not already present there. That way it could continue to grow as word of it spreads._

_What of people who do not own rare books?, Kilgharrah asked._

_Well, I could just set up a poetry and art section, where they could then contribute with their personal works, although I never have had much of a liking for such things, Mercury absentmindedly responded, before a thought struck him, __that reminds me, I should have a museum section too. That way I could trek across Alagaësia to look for artefacts and other rare objects, which could then be presented there as well._

_Your idea might actually work, Kilgharrah replied thoughtful, __how do you intend to have this place build and will it be large enough to accommodate dragon riders, as they will surely be among those that you would want to search out additions for you?_

_Well, I actually intended to build it by myself with my own hands and magic, and hoped that you would help me in the construction of it, Mercury responded, before he decided to answer the dragon's unsaid question, __and yes there will be a permanent accommodation made for you, should you choose to use it, as well as some to visiting riders._

Kilgharrah hummed in appreciation of his answer, before he bent down on his knees to allow Mercury to climb up to the saddle between his shoulder blades.

_Where to know?, Kilgharrah asked._

_First we have to search the Spine for the right mountain, as there is a few conditions that must be met, before we can even start to address which mountains we prefer, Mercury answered, while he readied himself for Kilgharrah to take off, as Mercury was far from accustomed to flying on dragon back._

* * *

I felt a little bad about starting with the same chapter that I presented you with the last time, so I have decided on a little game.

Up until my next update, everyone that reviews can each ask a number of three questions about the plot, which I must be able to answer with a yes or no answer. Please consider your questions carefully.


	2. Acquiring land

First to Smeeg: Although I appreciate your review and questions, I need to be able to send your answer to somewhere, so please ensure that I can do that in any future reviews(seriously it is ridiculously easy to sign up an account in here and you do not need to do anything about it if you do not wish to)

Now for another contest that I have actually been inspired to do. Since I have named a lot of things(persons, towns, buildings and so on), I have sometimes named that thing in reference to something, so here is the contest: The first person who can find the reference(references from the previous story and the painstakingly obvious of naming someone after an ancestor does not count) will be rewarded with one additional yes or no question per reference.

* * *

**Acquiring land**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Monday of the 22nd week of 74 ADG  
**Yesterday I destroyed the last stronghold of the Black Hand and killed the organization's last remaining leader figure. It was located in the heart of the very empire that it was trying to overthrow; Ilirea. I must admit that this was both a cunning and very clever idea by their leader, which I will not dare to name in fear of anyone ever finding these journals.

I know that I have not killed every single member of the Black Hand, but without any real leadership, the battered and splintered remains of it should be no match for the Empire's and Surda's intelligence organizations to clean up. Their threat to Alagaësia will forever be gone.

I have furthermore decided to burn all of my journals from the war, and I am on my way to seal away my armour and weapons in my personal armoury, where they, along with all the other things that I have created, but that never should have seen the light of day, will remain safe for eternity. I will also change my password once I get there, I have found something more fitting to use than my previous, but neither will I mention that in here.

Once I am done with this task, I will begin handing over control over my companies to my civilian straw men, as I have no further need of them, but I will keep what remains in my coffers. It should be enough to pay for an entire village to live quite well in a couple of hundreds of years, so I will not need to worry about getting food on the table.

Perhaps once I am finally done with this, I can go to visit Kilgharrah in the east.

**Mercury POV  
**It had been a couple of months since the festival at Hedarth, where Mercury had decided to build a home of his own rather than trying to fit into a place, where he could not. Kilgharrah and Mercury had spent the months searching the Spine for places suitable for their needs, and which upheld all of the conditions set upon the deed by Mercury and Nasuada.

After much searching, they had finally found a place, which were to both of theirs liking and which upheld the conditions. The mountain was located a little north from the urgal lands near Fläm and almost directly west of Daret. Its climate was a little bit colder than even the northern lands of Ceunon but the summer months were still warm enough to grow some food, although it would have to be hardy plants. The climate did not bother Mercury or Kilgharrah at all, since Kilgharrah would be able to comfortably live in much colder climates than this, and Mercury had always favoured the winter season above the other seasons.

After they had located their wanted mountain, Mercury had travelled to Ilirea to make the official request to the king, but Kilgharrah had not come with him for several reasons. The most important of those reasons had been that they did not want to draw attention to themselves while there, and the fact that Kilgharrah did not like to be crammed into the dragon hold or have to endure the, according to him, boring talks of two-legs.

Thus it came to be that Mercury was currently walking through the halls of the royal palace, where he had spent the last few weeks getting an audience. He had only been successful in obtaining the audience, because Mercury had allowed his scroll from Nasuada to be examined by the petty officials, who were in charge of who got an audience with the king.

He had for today's occasion chosen to wear blue-coloured contact lenses, a fine red tunic with silver embroidery, some black felt pants, a brown well-worn but still fine brown travelling cloak, and the name of Norrad son of Helgur. All in all, his appearance was that of a wealthy young freshly shaved young man in his mid-twenties.

The halls, which Mercury walked through to get to the audience hall, where made of white marble and had illustrious tapestries every few metres. Some tapestries portrayed some moments from the war against Galbatorix's defining moments, while others simply portrayed the beautiful landscapes of the Empire.

To his left, Mercury could see a roaring sapphire blue dragon with an armoured rider atop, which held a blue flaming sword high above his head, and directly opposite of them where the city of Dras-Leona, which had a ruby red dragon, which seemed slightly smaller than the blue one and it looked like it was cowering a bit.

Mercury chuckled a bit at this as he passed it, as it was not exactly how he remembered the confrontation at Dras-Leona. In front of him, his guide noticed his small chuckle and his gaze at the tapestry, and in a confused voice, he asked, "what amuses you so about this tapestry?"

"Nothing", Mercury quickly answered back in a levelled voice, "it is just the fact that this was not the image, which I had in mind, whenever I thought of that particular confrontation".

"I can assure you that the details of the dragons are quite accurate, as is the weapons and armour of the two riders. Both the Lord Eragon and the late Murtagh", the guide told Mercury.

"Yes, but one can never be sure what one imagines when told of such a story, and as such I found it amusing that my guess did not match the tapestry", Mercury simply replied, before he spoke in a sombre voice, "do you believe that the red rider was evil?"

The guide looked a bit confused by the sudden question, but after a moment he regained himself and asked in a clear voice, "Why do you ask? Everyone knows that the red rider caused much strife and sorrow to the Varden, the elves and the dwarves during his short time as a rider".

"I know he did", Mercury responded, "but was he not fighting for the Varden during the battle of Farthen Dur? Was he not betrayed by the twins, dragged to the dark king, had the misfortune of having the red dragon hatch for him, and then forced to fight in a war for a man, whom he never wanted to have anything to do with, and against his own brother and those that had welcomed him?"

The guide considered Mercury's words for a while, before he answered in a slightly saddened voice, "his misfortune was great indeed, but he could still have chosen to try to escape or take his own life. Neither chains nor guards held him. Who knows how many lives that he could have spared by doing so".

"No, neither chains nor guards held him", Mercury answered sombrely, "what held him was the very essence of his being. How can one escape or fight such a thing, and even if he somehow managed to escape those shackles, then the dark king would merely ensnare him immediately after"

"You speak as if you knew of his predicament personally?", the guide asked confused.

"Do I look like I am more than a hundred years old to you?", Mercury asked the guide in a sceptical voice and with an equally sceptical facial expression, to which the guide quickly shook his head, before Mercury continued in a more level voice, "I was informed of his story by my predecessor, who made sure that I considered all the facts before I drew a conclusion about such things, as he wanted my opinions only to be made once I had enough information to accurately make my own decisions".

"And what did you end up concluding?", the guide asked in a curious voice, as he stopped in front of the doors the audience hall.

"That he was simply the victim of misfortune, like so many other soldiers in Galbatorix's army at the time", Mercury answered with a shrug, before he walked past the guide and into the audience hall, where a sea of people parted ways to allow him to approach the dais with the twin thrones.

Whispers could be heard from the crowd, but Mercury paid them no mind, as he slowly but steadily approached the dais. He made sure never to look directly at the ones sitting there, but kept his gaze on the floor beneath them, as he walked the short distance to the dais.

When he finally reached the marker in front of the dais, he stopped, put his right arm in front of his chest, and kneeled down on one knee with his head bowed. Mercury would not usually pay much respect to the inherited status of any person, as he wanted the person to earn it for himself, but in this case, the situation demanded that he did so if he wanted to achieve his objective.

"Rise", came the command from the king, before he in a softer voice said, "my guests are rarely this formal when they approach me".

Mercury rose, as he was commanded to do, and looked into the king's eyes. They were the same as his mother Nasuada's, but he had not quite inherited her almond shape. The current king was the product of Nasuada's marriage to a noble, whose name Mercury could not remember. His hair was grey, and wrinkles adorned most of his face. All signs of the old age of about 70, which Mercury remembered that he was. To his left was his queen, who showed the same signs of old age as her husband, but in some way still managed to look regal despite of this.

"It is not every day that one meets someone of your position, sire", Mercury responded.

"Yes, yes, I have ruled long enough that I tire of these pleasantries. Speak your mind", the king said in a slightly tired voice.

"As you wish", Mercury said with a small nod, "I have come to collect an old debt from your predecessor".

"Yes, my advisors informed me of your document", the king answered with a small nod and a light smile at his lips, "tell me, how a man as young as you came to possess a debt as old as that. If my eyes does not deceive me, it was originally signed by my mother, the late Queen Nasuada, shortly after the end of the war against Galbatorix, and given to a man called Mercury Iridium, as thanks for his services to her cause".

"Neither your eyes nor your memory deceive you, sire", Mercury answered, "it was indeed signed by your late mother, and given to the man called Mercury, as payments for his services, but it also states that any holder of the document would be the legitimate owner of it, so who it was originally given to should play no role".

"You speak well for yourself, you dress in fine clothes, but you are no noble of this land, and you own a document older than myself. Tell me, how did you come to possess this and what is your story? It was my belief that Mercury had no heirs or is the mage's order right in that he is still alive, and that you act on his behalf?", the king asked in an inquisitive voice.

Mercury had already decided on not lying to the king, not out of some sense of honour or respect, but because the challenge of twisting his words to accommodate him seemed more amusing, and the fact that if anyone was to ever find out about who he really was, then he could confidently say that he had never lied to them.

"You are right that Mercury had no sons or daughters, but the mage's order is wrong in that he still exists", Mercury answered in a levelled voice, "the man you know as Mercury Iridium ceased to exist more than six years ago. He left me with all his possessions in this world, which is how I came to own this particular document and these fine clothes".

"So he is dead. I cannot say that I am entirely unpleased with this, as he was to his death a rogue magician, who never obliged by the rules, but neither can I say that it does not sadden me, as his services to Alagaësia were much needed", the king said in a slightly saddened voice, before he continued in a curious voice, "tell me, how did you know him personally?"

"Almost everything that I know today, I know only because of him. He was my predecessor of a sort", Mercury answered, while he neglected to correct the king's assumption that he meant that Mercury had died.

"I see, so you wish to continue his legacy?", the king asked in a slightly concerned voice.

"Not the legacy that you would suspect, sire", Mercury answered, which earned a sigh of relief from the old king, "I merely wish to build a home in the mountains, where I will continue the studies, which my predecessor started me on".

"I see, in that case, I will grant you your mountain, as promised by my late mother", the king said and nodded a small nod, "but since you are no noble and have no house, I must request that you go to the crest-maker to have a crest forged, which shall be the crest of your new house".

"Understandable", Mercury mumbled, "would you allow me to put certain rules in place on this house, sire?"

"What rules?", the king asked mistrustful.

"In the spirit of my predecessor, the house shall only have a single member at any given time. That member is not required to be blood-related to me, but will be identified by the ring with the crest of the house. Whenever the current member dies or abdicates, he or she shall have chosen a successor, who shall then succeed them as the new and only member".

"These are strange rules. Would you not want your children to inherit your wealth and position, when you die?", the king asked confused, while many similar murmurs could be heard from the crowd.

"It was my predecessor's, and my own, wish that people should not be measured by who they were born from, but rather what actions they have taken in life", Mercury calmly spoke, "if any children that I might have in the future should prove themselves worthy, then they would inherit the position, but if they are not, then would it not be wrong to allow them to tarnish the family's name?"

"I see that I cannot change your mind, nor is it my place to do so, and I will allow you to instate this rule into your new house, as it is neither my place to choose whom you choose to give your inheritance", the king said with a final nod, before he gave a small wave of his hand and said, "you are dismissed until the clerks have finished the deed to the mountain of your choosing, and your ring with the crest has been forged".

"Thank you, sire", Mercury said, as he bowed one last time, before he exited the audience hall.

**Time skip(a week later)  
**Mercury had finished with the royal crest-maker, where he had designed the crest to be a white scroll and a crooked black dagger, which were on either side of a silver plate. Between the dagger and the scroll, on the centre of the silver plate, were words inscribed in the Ancient language: knowledge is the power to choose for thy self.

The crest-maker had been more than a bit stunned by the very specific request and particularly by the lack of animal guardians, gemstones or power symbols, but Mercury had been adamant that this was how the crest was going to be, so the crest-maker had obliged.

After that, the crest-maker had sent the finished crest onwards to the ring-maker, who had then been tasked with creating a ring for the crest. After a few corrections from Mercury, he had ended up making a simple silver ring, which had an onyx coloured circle on top, where the crest was located.

When the ring had been forged and the documents had been readied, Mercury once again convened with the king, although this time it was in a more subtle and private room, where only a few guards and advisors where present.

"The deed has been readied, but my scribes have discovered that the mountain, which you chose, currently has no name to it", the king said to Mercury, "what do you wish for us to name this mountain?"

Mercury had already settled on a name long before he had even met with the king, as he was well aware that his and Kilgharrah's chosen mountain had no name, and would be in need of one when the time came.

"I have already given this some thought", Mercury replied, as he let a small smile grace his lips at his chosen name, "and I would wish for this mountain to be dubbed Eregion".

"Why Eregion? It is a most unusual name", the king curiously asked, although he did not find it strange anymore that the man, who he knew as Norrad son of Helgur, would choose something unusual.

"The name has meaning to me, but I doubt that it would have the slightest meaning to anyone else in Alagaësia", Mercury replied with a shrug, before he watched the scribe put his chosen name on the deed.

The king acknowledged his wish not to divulge anything more, as he signed the deed and gave it the royal stamp along with his own crest, which was also the previous flag of the Varden.

After this, Mercury thanked the king for his services, before he once again bowed and left the palace, before he gathered up his stuff from the inn that he had been using, and ventured out of Ilirea, but he had changed clothing beforehand, so that he now looked like any ordinary traveller and would not receive a second glance by anyone.

_I have finally gotten the deed, Mercury thought to himself, __now I can return to Kilgharrah and actually begin on getting ready for building._

* * *

So what did you think? I was a little nervous about seeming to make Mercury appear too melancholic, but at the same time I wanted to show that now that he has time to reflect on things, bottled up emotions come forth, although he in no way regrets to committing the things that he has done.

I have actually also been thinking about how to end this series, and I believe that I have come up with the general plotline for it, but do not worry, it will be a LONG time before you get to read any of it, so it is not that I am losing interest in the series. I have simply finally decided on which way I need to take the overall story.


	3. Taming the wild

Firstly, I would like to thank Smeeg for providing an apparently much needed fix to a grammatical error that I have consistently made, but it should be taken care of now for all chapters in this story, both previous and future. I will fix the errors in The beginning of the Shadow as soon as I find the time to do so.

Secondly, congratulations to Cretha Loesing for the very detailed and very correct answer to Eregion, although I believe he has yet to mention perhaps the most crucial thing about Eregion.

Now, without further ado, I present you with the next chapter.

* * *

**Taming the wild**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Wednesday of the 50****th**** week of 74 ADG**

All of my tasks have been completed with minimal difficulty, although I find that I cannot shake off some of my habits from the war. I guess that it will just take time to readjust to not being in constant danger of assassination and espionage.

I have furthermore found that I have begun to feel quite restless and that I almost crave to rejoin the hunt for the last remnants of the Black Hand, but I must not give in to this, as I fear that if I did, I would not be able to stop again.

I have therefore decided to postpone my journey to the east until I have gotten these last effects of the war out of my system, and have in that regard decided to instead venture to Tronjheim to dwell there for a while, but I will not wear my ring, as I do not want to be recognized by anyone there.

It would be good to talk to Orik again, not to mention visit the library there.

**Mercury POV  
**Mercury had met up with Kilgharrah near the Toark river, and they had from thereon continued their journey north through the mountains of the Spine. During the trip north, Mercury had made a few small stops at a few urgal settlements to learn about urgal culture, learn the names and circa locations of any urgal tribes near his particular mountain, and whether he would need to make treaties with them to avoid any conflicts.

The urgal Herndall had after a little persuasion, and Mercury's agreed participation in a wrestling match against one of their strongest kull, agreed to tell him some of what he wanted to know. The match had been a quite public affair, where most of the tribe had come to see it, but unlike most of their expectations, Mercury had been the one to win the match.

Mercury's victory had not come through the use of superior strength, as he was by far outclassed by the kull, but rather by Mercury's ability to be nimble and turn the very strength of the kull against him. Kilgharrah had found it greatly amusing that a little two-legs-round-ears had defeated a giant two-legs-with-horns in a match that, in Kilgharrah's mind, more resembled a dance than a fight.

When he had voiced this opinion the urgals had laughed so loud that it almost resembled thunder. After this, the urgals had thrown a feast in celebration of the match, despite the unlucky outcome for them, and Mercury had considered it to be greatly disrespectful to simply refuse the feast, meet with the Herndall, and then be on his way, so he had accepted.

During the feast, Mercury had managed to stay relatively sober, while still keeping up the appearance of a happy drinker. It was not that the drink was vile to drink, as Mercury remembered a few drinks from his old world, which tasted much worse, but Mercury was wary of losing too much control over himself to the effects of alcohol. With magic at ones fingertips, Mercury felt that it was greatly irresponsible to have ones common sense be disturbed by the strange and unpredictable effects of alcohol.

The day after the feast, Mercury had learned that there were no major tribes in the vicinity of the mountain that he needed to worry about, although he never received their specific locations. Mercury had thanked the Herndall for their cooperation, and, together with Kilgharrah, had ventured further north towards his destination.

The rest of the journey had been rather uneventful, and at the moment Mercury and Kilgharrah were standing at the foot of the mountain, which had recently been named Eregion.

A thick and dense forest of high oak and pine trees surrounded the lowliest parts of the mountain kind of like a natural ring wall, which made it almost impossible to venture through and reach the upper parts. When you got further up, the forest became less dense, so that one could more easily traverse these parts, and in the part furthest to the top, the mountainside was a completely bare marble rock.

A large lake was situated nearly one quarter from the top, which had a small river running down the mountainside. It was near this river that Mercury intended to start building, as the river would provide him with an easy source of fresh water.

The forest in this area was less dense than the forest further down, which Mercury greatly appreciated, as he would have to clear a large area of the forest for trees and their roots in order to have a proper place to build.

_I have a question_, Kilgharrah said to Mercury after they had arrived at the designated place, _where do you intend to sleep during the time, where you are building this place, and where do you intend to find food?_

_Oh, I actually forgot about that_, Mercury responded, _I guess I will have to start by setting up some sort of small hut, which will become my temporary home, and about the food…I could always hunt for most of what I need on this very mountain, but for anything else, I guess that I should have to buy that in the small city near the base of the mountain._

_And for me?_, Kilgharrah asked.

_I thought that you were a fearsome and very capable hunter on your own?_, Mercury responded in a jesting voice, _but if the weather is too harsh for you, or the food escapes your sight, then-_

_Prey never escapes my sight!_, Kilgharrah interrupted Mercury, _nor is the weather anything that someone as mighty as me would complain about_.

_Then I guess that that answers your question_, Mercury responded with a small chuckle, which earned him a small sneer from Kilgharrah.

After that, Mercury proceeded to cut down some of the trees with magic, before he made four deep holes in the ground, which he then managed to place the trunks in by using a lever and by constantly placing objects under the trunk that he was lifting, so that the tree could be lifted into position bit by bit. In the end, he had four uprights, which were arranged in a small square formation.

The work took most of the day, but would have been much shorter if Kilgharrah had not directly refused to help in making the hut, as he was still a little irritated that Mercury had managed to get him to claim that he did not need any temporary shelter, which if he then went back on, would demean him.

At dinner, Mercury used some already broken and dried wood to create a fire, where he cooked some of his supplies, while Kilgharrah merely opted to take off and hunt a deer. Mercury's dinner ended up being a stew made from the water of the river, some dried meat, and whatever vegetables and seasonings that he could find in the vicinity.

On the second day of work, Mercury managed to cut down additional trees, which he then cut small indents into, so that they would fit into the uprights. It was unfortunately at this time that Mercury realized that he had no way of making the trunks, which were supposed to become walls, stick to the uprights.

_I guess I shall have to venture into the town to get some nails, tools and other supplies then_, Mercury mused to himself, _let me see, what persona would need such things as nails, supplies and rugs during this time of year? A merchant would do, but they usually come near winter and a lone merchant would be suspicious, a settler would usually have his own and a few other families with him, which would also not do because then they would become aware of my presence before I intend them to. I guess the best bet in this case would be a trapper, which means that I will need to wear some brown leather and fur clothes, along with perhaps the brown contact lenses and a slight middle Empire accent_.

After his little brainstorm, Mercury proceeded to do as he had planned, left a note for Kilgharrah, as Kilgharrah had still not returned from his hunting trip, and began to venture down the mountainside. The trip down was severely more difficult than the trip up, as Kilgharrah had allowed Mercury to let him ride him on the way up.

The trees were so dense that when you walked on the ground, you could not see the sky and constantly had to weave your way through the trunks. This proved to be extremely disorientating, as there was no visible ways to tell direction, combined with the fact that you constantly twisted and turned to get around groups of trees that were too dense to go through.

Eventually, Mercury had had enough of this giant maze, and with a slight grumble thought, _I know that one of the reasons that I chose this mountain was because it was difficult for hunters and other people to venture into, and I would therefore not have to worry about visitors until after I had finished, but this is getting ridiculous. I do not even know whether I am even going in the general direction anymore, as all that I know for certain is that I am descending_.

As he thought this, Mercury stumbled upon yet another clump of trees that he could not go through. In pure rage, he punched the tree, which unfortunately also ripped off some of his skin on his knuckles. While healing this wound, Mercury mused to himself, _perhaps it would be better to try and climb a tree and then walk on the treetops, where I can at the very least see where I am going_.

This proved to be a good idea, as after he had climbed a tree, he found that the sun would soon set to the right of his previous direction, which meant that he had been going north instead of east as planned. After correcting his course, Mercury continued in the right direction for another few hours, before he eventually climbed down to the branches directly below the treetop of his current tree, ate some dried meat and a few vegetables, tied his body to the main trunk of the tree, which he was leaning on, and fell asleep.

Mercury woke only a few hours after he had gone to sleep, which was far from unusual for him, as he could simply not sleep any longer, and continued his trek in the dark, which was not terribly dark to Mercury, thanks to his enhanced eyesight.

The sun had almost risen when Mercury finally reached the end of the trees. In front of him were plains of grass, but in the distance, he could see the cornfields of the village. He reached the village a little under an hour later, where he discovered that the small village, which was mostly comprised of stout log buildings, was not yet fully awake.

Only a few night-watchmen were out at this hour, but they had not yet spotted him, as he was still a fair distance away. After quickly deciding that it would be less conspicuous if he were to arrive in town at a later hour, Mercury hid in the countryside and waited for a more opportune time to enter.

This time came 3-4 hours later, where Mercury then ventured into town from the south, as he wanted to give the impression that he was coming from the south and going north. He noted that although it was a small town with probably no more than 300-400 villagers, they still had a detachment of Imperial soldiers stationed there, but from what he could observe, no one from the mage's order.

One of the guards soon approached him and said, "halt stranger. What business do you have here?"

Taking on his preferred middle Empire accent, Mercury responded, "Why, my name is Goren son of Lorst, and I am but a simple trapper in need of materials and supplies, before I venture further north, where such items are harder to come by".

The guards seemed to consider his words for a while, before he said, "you can find food at the Old Tree inn, tools at the sawmill, and if you need anything further, then just ask me or another of the guards but keep your fingers to yourself and stay out of trouble, for we will not tolerate such things here in Norigo".

"Hmm, Norigo, eh?", Mercury said with a small smile at his lips, which were purely intended for the guard's benefit, "perhaps I will continue to use this as a stop in the future. It seems like a decent place, but tell me, do you have a tanner?", Mercury already knew that they did not, but it was important that he acted like a trapper.

"I am afraid not", the guard responded with a slight shake of his head, "but as long as you continue to behave yourself, you shall be welcome here".

"A shame", Mercury responded with a shrug of his shoulders, "then I shall have to continue further north to Carvahall to get my furs tanned and sold. It would have been nice to be able to do all of my business here. That way there would be less travelling time and more time to be home with my wife".

"Aye, but a man must do what he must to earn a living", the guard responded in a sympathetic voice, "perhaps if more trappers ventured through here, then we could get a tanner to settle here".

"Aint that the truth. Tell you what, I will try to convince some of my fellows to come through here, although most of them prefer to take the Ramr river up to Gilead, and then further onwards from there", Mercury told the guard, before he said his goodbyes and ventured towards the sawmill as instructed.

_Good, now that I have established myself as Goren the trapper, I should be able to use this identity to visit the town and get supplies and materials a few times a year_, Mercury mused to himself, _but I probably have to create a few other personas in order to get the rest of my supplies_.

After getting everything that he needed and familiarizing himself with some of the town's customs and traditions, Mercury deemed that it would be best for his current persona, if he stayed the night at the inn, before he moved onwards.

To avoid any suspicion, he had to stay in his room, while pretending to sleep the whole night, instead of beginning his day at his usual hour. After deeming it late enough for an early bird like a trapper to be awake, Mercury left his room and after saying his farewells to the innkeeper, ventured out of the city in the northern direction, which he changed as soon as he was out of sight from the town.

After reaching the start of the treeline, Mercury felt a familiar gust of wind upon him, and as he looked up, he saw a deep royal purple dragon descend upon him. Kilgharrah landed hard and less than a metre from Mercury, which due to his size made the very ground shake under Mercury's legs.

_Are you not a little late?_, Kilgharrah questioned Mercury in a jesting voice, _your note said that you would be back in two days' time, and you are already halfway through your third and still have a long way to go_.

_I am aware of that_, Mercury simply responded.

_So what kept you then? Did you for instance lose your sense of direction and venture north instead of east?_, Kilgharrah continued in a greatly amused voice.

_You followed me_, Mercury stated with a sigh, _you followed me, while knowing that I was going the wrong way and yet you said nothing. Wait, how did you even know where I was? I could not even see the sky for the trees_.

_I simply followed your scent_, Kilgharrah responded, _and about not telling you; you already know why I did that_.

_You thought it would be amusing to watch_, Mercury simply stated with neither accusation nor approval in his voice, as he knew that such things would not have the slightest effects on Kilgharrah's future actions, combined with the fact that he was pretty used to such pranks by now, _so what do you want to get me across the trees?_

_A pool_, Kilgharrah simply stated.

_A pool, as in those from that other world?_, Mercury questioned with a raised eyebrow.

_Well, essentially yes_, Kilgharrah responded, _I want a place, where I can swim on a daily basis_.

_Would an artificial lake do?_, Mercury asked Kilgharrah, as he already had had plans to create something like that as a water reservoir nearby.

_Yes, I suppose an artificial lake would do. So it is a deal then?_, Kilgharrah said with amusement.

_Yes, it is a deal, but under the condition that you also help in bringing materials through this forest every time that there is something, which we need and cannot make ourselves_, Mercury responded.

_I guess that that is acceptable, as I doubt that you would ever finish my dragon hold if I did not_, Kilgharrah agreed.

_Good, I bought some paper, ink and quills, while I was there, so what do you say, we start planning where to put what as soon as I finish with the hut?_, Mercury said, as he began to mount Kilgharrah's bare back, although he had placed a fur coat between his legs and Kilgharrah's scales.

_I actually already finished your hut, while you were away_, Kilgharrah happily said, as he took off, _did you know that if a branch is shaped correctly and hardened in fire, then it can easily become a nail?_

_I was aware of that, but I thought that the trunks would crack if I tried to use such a large nail_, Mercury responded, and from the slight mischievous feeling from Kilgharrah, he surmised that he had been correct, so with a sigh he asked, _how many cracked?_

_Well, most of them_, Kilgharrah replied with a small draconic chuckle, _but now they stick to the poles quite firmly_.

_I suppose I will just have to convert the hut into a mound then_, Mercury simply responded, _by the way, why did you do that without even securing some sort of payment for your troubles? It is not like you._

_Oh, I am taking my payment now_, Kilgharrah responded in a gleeful and mischievous voice, which instinctively made Mercury squeeze his legs together and hold on firmer to his neck spikes, as he suddenly realized that he was not the only one who had had a double meaning, when they had bargained earlier.


	4. The process of building a home

If any of you noticed the constant bolding in the first two chapters, it was not intended or something that I could even fix, but rather a possible error. It should be gone now, but if it is not then let me know, as I found that I could only see this error when reading the actual page from my laptop, and that it did not appear on the preview.

Now, I feel I should congratulate Cretha Loesing for finding a reference that I did not even know about. It saved my entire day when he did so.

* * *

**The process of building a home**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Tuesday of the 13****th**** week of 76 ADG  
**My habits from the war have yet to cease, in fact I believe that they are getting worse. I keep seeing figures in the shadows here in Tronjheim, but when I look closer, there is nothing. Furthermore, I find that whenever I walk into any room, building or basically anywhere, I immediately start to look for exits, places where assassins could hide, and I have even begun to make quick survey of everyone in the room, to determine whether they carry weapons, have ill intentions, and how I could most easily take them out.

Even my own chambers have not been spared from my paranoia, as I almost daily must check and recheck everything in the room, to see if anything is out of place or something has been tampered with. I have furthermore begun to dream of what happened in the war, but nothing that keeps me from sleeping. The dreams should stop of their own accord when I simply ignore them and continue sleeping as if nothing happened.

I have yet to mention any of this to anyone, as the only one that I would trust with this is Orik, and he already has an ailing health. I fear that he has less than a few years left, but I have not mentioned this to him, as I want him to keep up the spirit, which is why I have not mentioned my other habits either.

**Mercury POV  
**It had been 25 years since Mercury had first arrived at Eregion, and during that time, he had not been idle. After completing his own dwelling, he and Kilgharrah had begun to sketch out how they wanted the place to look, what features, buildings and services needed to be there, and eventually begin estimating how large different sections and areas needed to be.

Only after doing all of this, did they actually start making building plans for the individual segments. The blueprints had been so numerous, that when they were gathered together into a single portfolio, it had been enough to fill two fairly large books.

The first project after clearing out a huge area of trees and roots, which had taken a little more than an entire year to do, had been to build Kilgharrah's personal space along with the rest of the dragon hold, which they had originally planned to be able to house three dragons besides Kilgharrah.

The decision to do this first had been an effort on Mercury's part to give Kilgharrah some sort of appreciation for his help and the fact that he was willing to spend so much time with only Mercury for company.

To provide the rock for the hold, Mercury had begun to excavate the foundation for the main building and then use magic to shape the rocks into the appropriate shapes. Needless to say that this had been an extremely tiring and long process to do, and even with Kilgharrah's help in the quarrying and his steady donations of energy, it had still taken quite a few years to do, but in both Mercury's and Kilgharrah's mind, it had been worth it.

The dragon hold had been simple in its design, with only the space for the dragons to sleep, a few stone benches, chairs and tables, but with barely any decorations on the inside. Mercury had originally wanted to carve some pictures into the walls and add a few stone statues, but Kilgharrah had reasoned that it would be unnecessary, since it would be more of a temporary resting place for any rider's dragon than a permanent home.

However with Kilgharrah's place, the story had been totally different, as Mercury had quite adamantly insisted that his place was special and needed to be built as such, and Kilgharrah had hardly objected to this.

With Kilgharrah's dwelling, Mercury had used the marble from the mountaintop as material for the walls, ceiling and floor. Intricate and beautiful carvings of dragons in flight, fight, peacefully but majestically asleep, and a few of hatching dragons, adorned the walls. The general structure of the place resembled the temples in ancient Greece, with the triangular shaped roof, the columns at the entrance, but unlike those, this one had two small marble statues of dragons on the front of the roof.

The dragons both turned so that their waving tails' tips were meeting at the tip of the roof, while their snouts were pointing towards the sides of the roof. Mercury had opted to sculpture the dragons based on the Asian version of the dragons, which were much longer, slender and more snakelike creatures than the dragons of Alagaësia.

Mercury had during these years set up several different personas to travel through Norigo, which made him able to order different sorts of supplies and items for his construction, but since the logistics of moving heavy items through the dense underforest and up the mountain were hell, he had to get his own lumber and stonework.

It had taken quite a few tries to turn the trees, which Mercury had fell during the cleaning of the area, into usable timber, and in the end, Mercury had given up on finding out on his own and had set up a carpenter apprentice persona to pass through Norigo and learn how it was done at the sawmill there.

A side project, during the years of building the dragon hold, had been to become at least partially self-sustained in regards to food, so Mercury had used one of his already present personas, a rich merchant and entrepreneur, who had been recommended to use this route for his supply route rather than the heavily bandit infested Gilead route, by a nephew who had been recommended the route by a trapper by the name of Goren son of Lorst, to have an entire shipment of fruit tree saplings shipped to Norigo, where he then picked them up and presumably headed back north with them, although he actually only went a little north and then swung around towards the west.

After getting the saplings back to the constructions site, Mercury had dug trenches in the area, which they had set off for their orchard, and had planted the saplings and then let nature continue at its natural pace, as neither of them had any wish nor the spare energy needed to speed up the process.

Another section of the food area had been planted with potatoes, as they were quite hardy and relatively autonomous, which was something that Mercury put great value in in his food supply, as he did not want to waste many an hour on maintaining it.

After finally finishing with the dragon hold, Mercury had begun on making the ring wall, which was supposed to encompass the entire area that he had cleared of trees, except that a five metre gap was put between the outer edge of the wall and the treeline.

The main building was supposed to be the front part of the ring wall, towards where Mercury intended for the road down the mountain to be, so that the ring wall would not have a gate as such. The wall was not meant to be for defending the place, but rather to be a sort of large fence.

The wall's materials had been the regular stone, which Mercury had also used to construct most of the dragon hold, and had not been decorated at all. It had taken a while to make it, but still quite shorter than constructing the dragon hold.

The next project had been to create the artificial lake, which Mercury also intended to serve as a reservoir. The lake had ended up being a quite extensive one, and had been located on the mountainside above the clearing, as Mercury intended to use gravity to create enough pressure on the water to be able to let it flow through the water pipes and into the sinks and showers, which he intended the main building to have in each of the personal quarters.

The water, which was supposed to supply the main building with water, went from the lake and into a large water pipe, which was more than a metre in diameter, where it then went through several filters comprised of boiled sand, charcoal, more boiled sand and then more charcoal, so that the water would at all times be clean enough to drink.

The pipe itself ran underground and also collected its water from the bottom part of the lake, as Mercury did not want to mar the landscape with it and in general did not trust that it would hold for more than a short number of years above ground.

During all of these years, Mercury's different personas had visited Norigo quite often, as he needed a lot of special supplies, and had now almost become half members of the not so little town. To keep up his different backstories of the personas, Mercury had had to let both them and their backstories evolve, as it would have been suspicious if they stayed the same through all of those years.

This meant that he now apparently had three children in a small city near Ilirea as Goren son of Lorst, two daughters as the rich entrepreneur Socomb, along with a number of other different changes in the rest of his personas.

Keeping track of all of these different personas' traits, stories and oddities had become quite taxing, and more than once, Mercury forgot to step out of the character when it was no longer needed to be present. Even when Mercury was alone, he would sometimes catch himself in some oddity or trait, which he knew did not belong to him, but rather one of his personas.

After the completion of the water system, Mercury had finally begun to actually build what would be the main building of his new home. The building's façade had been created from the marble at the top of Eregion, and above the three metres high and two metres wide holly doorway, there was a message written in both the Liduen Kvaedhí and the runes of the dwarves, which in both the Ancient language, the human language and the dwarven language said: Thou passage is clear if thy contributes precious pieces of art, knowledge and rare objects, so that others may see and enjoy.

In short, it meant that if you wanted to enter, you had to contribute something to the library, which was Mercury's way of making sure that it would grow and prosper without needing him to collect every single scrap for it.

The rest of the main building had been given the general architecture of a rather large castle, with spires and so on, although one of those spires contained a giant spring powered analogue clock, which Mercury had constructed to be similar to Big Ben of his old world. The building itself towered nearly 10 metres into the air, and was divided into four different stories, although the primary part of the building was dedicated to the massive library, which reached all the way through those four stories and was covered in an enormous number of aisles with empty shelves.

Next to the massive library was where Mercury intended for the museum to be, but unfortunately he had yet to acquire any significant contributions to it. Mercury did have objects and oddities in his possession that could possibly give even the most hardened collector a heart attack, but most if not all of those were in Mercury's mind either not suited for the public of Alagaësia to ever learn about, or they would either directly or indirectly incriminate Mercury in certain events, which would surely give his identity away, so he kept all of those hidden in his private collection, which was not only off-limits from anyone, but also hidden so that no one would stumble upon it or gain access just like that.

Well, neither those shelves nor those pedestals in the museum would stay empty for too long, because Mercury intended that as soon as he was done with his current project, he would finally be ready to actually start filling the library. Then after he had acquired a significant base amount, he would begin the construction of the road towards Norigo, so that people could actually discover and come to the library, bringing with them new additions to it.

His current project was to transport a herd of feldûnost from the Beor-mountains, where he had bought them from the dwarven clan of Dûrgrimst Feldûnost, which had taken quite a massive amount of convincing and had in the end required Mercury to quickly flash the dwarven ring of friendship, which was something that he did not want to generally do, as, although it was not the only ring in circulation, it could possibly still help to identify him as Mercury Iridium.

Mercury had wanted for quite some time to get a different meat source than the deer on Eregion and the occasional dried meat from Norigo, as one could really tire of the poor taste of the deer after 25 years of eating it, but as the herd would need to be able to survive on the mountainside of Eregion, sheep, cattle, pigs and other such regular creatures had been ruled out as an option, which in Mercury's mind had left feldûnost as the best suited for the job, as they were native to the mountainous Beors and already had proven by the dwarves to be able to be used as such.

However moving a herd, large enough to sustain itself, without needing Mercury to occasionally go and buy new ones, by only himself and Kilgharrah had proven to be quite the challenge, as individual animals would occasionally try to go in a different direction or flee entirely from the rest of the herd.

So far, the only reason that the herd had not been successful in dispersing had been because Kilgharrah would fly above it and when some of the feldûnost tried to go in a wrong direction or flee, he would swoop down and create a wall of fire in front of them, which would automatically steer them back into the right direction.

_We really need to find some sort of way to control these feldûnost when we get back_, Mercury thought to Kilgharrah, after he had once again prevented a part of the herd from escaping, _I originally planned to let them go relatively free in a limited part inside the walls, so that they could go up to the lake to drink when they were thirsty and so on, but I fear that they will spread out over the entire area, which I certainly does not them to_.

_How about just creating a fence?_, Kilgharrah asked, _it would keep them inside the area, where we want them and away from where we do not_.

_They are feldûnost_, Mercury stated, _they naturally live in the mountains. The fence would need to be a completely solid wall more than three metres high to prevent them from simply scaling it. This reminds me that I would also need to do something about the ring wall in such a case_.

_So what do you propose then?_, Kilgharrah asked, _I certainly will not keep preventing them from escaping once we are home. I do have other interests, and I will not always stay there, as we have already discussed_.

_I know_, Mercury grumbled, _I will just have to think of some sort of other method to keep them there_.

That night, when Mercury and Kilgharrah made camp in the most western parts of the Beor-mountains, Mercury took out his contact lenses, as he had done every night they had been with the herd. This was done for several reasons, the major being that this allowed him to much more effectively see in the night, and thereby notice when the feldûnost tried to flee or if a predator tried to snatch some.

Later into the night, Mercury spotted a silvery grey shrrg trying to take a feldûnost away from the herd. Mercury had been amazed that despite its size, which was close to a horse's, the shrrg had managed to sneak up unto the herd and kill a feldûnost without either Mercury or Kilgharrah noticing it. They had only noticed it when it had had to drag the carcass away.

Strangely fascinated by the creature, Mercury decided to abandon his half-attempt at going back to sleep and instead follow it to wherever it would go. He would not kill the animal for the theft of one of his feldûnost. After all, the damage had already been done and nothing Mercury did to the shrrg would repair it, and in a way, Mercury felt…amazed? No, it was not that simple, but still…Mercury could not help but feel slightly proud for the shrrg.

_Are you sure that is wise?_, Kilgharrah said in Mercury's mind.

_Following a predator the size of a horse through trees and into its den? No probably not_, Mercury jested back, while he continued on his path to stalk the mighty creature.

_Good, that means that I can go back to sleep_, Kilgharrah lazily said, before he cut off the connection.

Mercury suppressed a chuckle, which would surely have given him away to the shrrg, as Kilgharrah's answer reached him. Yes, Kilgharrah may act unconcerned or even blatantly rebellious at times, but after more than 30 years of companionship, they both knew when the other was being serious or needed to be taken seriously, and tonight was not such a night, as even if the shrrg discovered and attacked him, Mercury would still be capable of cutting its central nerve system with but a single concentrated thought.

As the night wore on, the shrrg seemed to keep dragging the dead feldûnost without the slightest indication of pause or wanting to eat it. Mercury had been surprised after the first hour had gone, as it was his understanding that predators usually just dragged the prey away for a small while, so that they could devour it in peace, but this one had been dragging it for close to an hour and a half.

Mercury had not contacted Kilgharrah since then, with the pace they had went, he doubted that he would have the mental strength to do so. Kilgharrah would no doubt have been able to do so, which was why it had more often than not been him that had contacted Mercury if they were far from each other.

It was one of the things that Mercury had often tried to improve upon himself, but had always been unable to. Kilgharrah had said something about Mercury not doing it right, which he apparently had learned from the dragon riders themselves how to do, but so far, Kilgharrah had been unable to teach Mercury how exactly he was doing it wrong.

It had something to do with focus, Mercury had had that drilled into him, but it was also something about watching one and knowing all. Whatever that meant. Not that Mercury and Kilgharrah had devoted much time to the issue, after all between the enormous workload of building their place, the trips to Norigo to get supplies, while simultaneously having to avoid all suspicion and keep his different personas, both old and new alive and thriving; Mercury had hardly had enough free time to seriously go into the subject.

Not that he actually needed or could benefit from it. After all, he was supposed to remain as inconspicuous as a mere mortal without such skills, and it was not like he supposed that he would ever get back to active duty again, was it?

No, this was his to be his new life! He had already proven once that he could not handle the consequences of such a life, and besides, the dragon riders had everything under control. They did not actively NEED him. His reoccurrence would only create more trouble than it could ever possibly solve, so he would resign to this, this life of merely trying to find a reason to get up every morning only to know that nothing of greater importance would be in store.

Yes, ordinary mortal people might call the immortal elves blessed, but in Mercury's mind, it was just as much of a curse. You would not know it before you actually tried it, but being mortal was…exhilarating. Knowing that you only had a very limited number of years to do everything, which you ever wanted to do, was motivation unlike any other.

Now that he no longer had that motivation, Mercury felt less productive every year that passed, because after all, he could easily postpone this for a year, a decade, a century even, and it would not change a thing. In the end it would not matter whether he unveiled his library now or in a decade. In fact, the only reason that Mercury had kept himself so busy with it was to avoid the sheer boredom of not having anything to do.

Mercury hardly noticed as the first stars began to vanish, as the night began to give way for the day, until finally his impromptu stalking trip ended, when the shrrg finally arrived at a cave. It was not a big cave, but it was enough to house the cubs and the shrrg, who Mercury now realized was female.

Mercury studied fascinatedly as the cubs, which were barely more than a month old, hungrily tore into the feldûnost, which their mother had brought to them, while he simultaneously keeping out of the wind and out of sight.

As he watched the cubs finish their meal, along with their mandatory cleaning from their mother afterwards, his sense of time became lost to him. That was until Kilgharrah rudely barraged himself into Mercury's mind without as much of a warning first.

_Have you been spending the entire night watching those shrrg cubs?_, Kilgharrah amusedly asked.

_No, we only arrived here a little while ago_, Mercury answered back in a displeased tone, before he curiously asked, _why? How far are we from the camp?_

_Not far, I would say that you might have been able to make the trip in a small hour or so_, Kilgharrah answered.

_Interesting. These shrrg are clever enough to try and shake any pursuers that might be following them after they steal from their herds. It certainly shows great signs of intellect to be able to plan ahead as such_, Mercury mused more to himself more than to Kilgharrah, despite Kilgharrah still being in his head and hearing every word of it.

_Yes, they make good effective hunters. Why the sudden interest?_, Kilgharrah asked in a tone, which Mercury knew meant that he had already guessed that Mercury had an idea.

_If they are smart enough to figure this out, there is no telling what else they might be trained for_, Mercury answered back, already decided in his mind about what he needed to do, _they could solve the problem with the feldûnost running away, and who knows…perhaps more in the future_.

_You want to use predators to guard prey?_, Kilgharrah asked in disbelief, _and how would you stop them from simply spreading around to the rest of the Spine? I do not think that the local farmers would be happy if groups of shrrgs suddenly began to snatch their cattle from them_.

_With the right training and discipline, they would know what to do. All I have to do is establish the library as their new den and make sure that they recognize us as the packleaders_, Mercury answered coolly, _I would just need to limit the pack's size to something where the feldûnost herd would not dwindle, and if I could get them to understand that they were only to take the older ones, which served no further purpose, then it would be even easier_.

_You believe that you can train that massive shrrg in front of you to not only do as you wish, but let her touch her cubs even_, Kilgharrah asked back in disbelief, which was grounded, as it would be extremely foolhardy to even consider such a task.

_No, of course not_, Mercury answered back, _she is way too old to be tamed, but her cubs are not_.

Yes, this was what Mercury had known he needed to do since the idea had first sprung itself in his head. Adults were tedious and difficult to break and train, but younglings, younglings he could shape into every shape he wanted.

_You are going to kill her for that?_, Kilgharrah asked in what Mercury knew to be disdain.

_Not kill her, no_, Mercury answered back to appease his most valued partner, _probably just put her to sleep and then remove the cubs. It will be better for them even. Think about it, if I leave them here, chances are that less than one or two will end up surviving, while I could guarantee all of theirs survival of we brought them along. Plus, the mother would not even grieve for them, but simply mate next season to produce a new batch. It is nature's way after all_.

_Fine_, Kilgharrah relented, _but you know that this sort of thinking is why nobody, not even the dragon riders, trusts you, right?_

_I know_, Mercury chuckled, while he prepared himself for his wordless spell to put the cubs and their mother to sleep. He had never gotten around to properly learning the Ancient language, or maybe he had but just could not remember it, but he supposed he would have all the time in the world to eventually do it.

With the Ancient language, it was easy to do a whole lot of things, but without it, Mercury needed to concentrate on the exact ramifications and repercussions of what he tried to do, and more importantly, what he tried not to do.


	5. A new sight to behold

I am so sorry for forgetting to update this yesterday, but my morning was kind of rushed, so it must have slipped my mind, and since I always does it in the morning, I never thought about it not being done.

I have now corrected The beginnings of the Shadow's mistakes with ' and 's, but due to unforeseen events, I might have changed the chapters a tiny bit, so if you find something that you remember different, please tell me, so that I might correct it.

* * *

**A new sight to behold**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Friday of the 46****th**** week of 76 ADG  
**The dreams have yet to stop, and I believe that they are the cause of my inability to stop myself from truly letting the past be the past. In fact, I believe that they have begun to increase in both numbers and strength.

I find that sometimes in the morning and late at night, I have trouble remembering whether I am in Tronjheim, after the war, or in some safehouse, while still in the war. I know that I can defeat this if I merely concentrate enough on the present.

Orik's health has further deteriorated; he has been confined to bed by his physicians. I know that both his physicians and his wife Hvedra tells him that he just have to stay strong and ride through this, but whenever I talk with him, we both know that he is lying on his deathbed.

**Mercury POV  
**Finally! Finally Mercury had reached the final stage of his enormous project. A project that had been in the works for the last 34 years of his life. A project that had made a quite significant intake in Mercury's not quite meagre cash reserves, and yet had not been detected by any outsiders.

Mercury had finished the actual construction work, except for this last stage, of the library about 8 years ago, with the final addition of a kennel to the new shrrg wolves that were housed here, and had after that focused his primary attention on training the shrrgs.

They had proved quite easy to train, as they were quite intelligent and had been taken at a young age. Their first and original task had been to guard the feldûnost, which they did effectively, but Mercury had discovered that they, as he had planned, had begun to view the entire place as their den, and had therefore begun to guard its entrance, the massive holly doorway.

For the life of him, Mercury had no idea how they had managed to slip out from inside the walls, but it had quickly become clear that the otherwise so imposing walls around his entire estate did not deter them even the slightest.

The first time Mercury had witnessed the shrrgs guarding the entrance had been when he had returned from scavenging in the woods late at night. He had not paid too much attention on what was in front of him at the moment when he began to exit the woods, so he had been quite surprised when he was suddenly met with an angry snarl.

He had immediately prepared to retaliate against any attackers, but had soon realized that it came from his own front door, where he had then watched fascinated as a couple of shrrgs had laid there with their teeth bared and growls emanating from their throats.

They had not stopped this behaviour until Mercury had come close enough to allow them to catch his scent, which then seemed to calm them down again. The experience had sparked an idea in Mercury's head that perhaps he could use them as guardians of the library as well, but to do that, he had to get a larger pack of shrrgs, so that they could both maintain a constant presence at the gate, keep watch over the feldûnost, while others relaxed and minded their own business.

This had prompted another trip to the Beor-mountains for Mercury, where he this time would be actively looking for shrrg dens, instead of just randomly stumbling into them. Mercury had been a little nervous about leaving his current pack of shrrgs alone for too long a time, as he did not want them to suddenly develop new hierarchies and break his training just because he was gone for a period of time, but to his luck, Kilgharrah had offered to keep a watch on them, while he was away on his business.

Not to say that Kilgharrah would actively teach or punish them for anything, unless they really stepped out of bounds, and he would not check up on them on even a remotely regular basis either, as he had other interest and things to do than just lounging around in his dragon hold for days on end, but just knowing that they would at least be somewhat looked after made Mercury feel more secure.

The trip had ended up taking three months, as Mercury had had quite a lot of difficulties with locating the dens, and had unfortunately had a run-in with a local band of bandits on his return trip. Luckily Mercury had had some rope with him that could bind the bandits together with some rocks, so that they would not float on top of the nearby lake.

A pile of dead bandits would have raised too many questions, as to whom had been attacked, how they had managed to kill all of their attackers, and why none of it had been reported, so it was quite a lot easier to simply dump the bodies in a deep lake with some weight and be rid of them.

When he had finally returned with the newest additions to the pack, Mercury had been pleased to see that all had remained pretty much the same as they always had, which also meant that he did not have to worry about making long trips in the future.

The introduction of the new cubs to the pack had taken a few months, but when they had finally been accepted, Mercury had been overjoyed to learn that he did not even have to personally train them, but that their elder pack-members taught them what Mercury had taught them during their upbringing.

After he had finally secured his home and had taken care of all of its immediate concerns, Mercury had been able to finally go out into the world and start collecting books for his library and oddities for his museum.

The primary bulk of the books that now resided in the library had been gathered by simply journeying to Ilirea, Dras-Leona, Feinster and Tronjheim, where he had impersonated different rich merchants and noblemen, who wanted to have made copies for their own private libraries.

He had of course maintained a list of which libraries copied which books, so that he did not get more than his required two copies of each book, but it never seemed to stop astounding Mercury how large a portion of a library a single nobleman could order copied without anyone even cocking an eyebrow at him.

Well not to say that he had gone completely unnoticed, as he had actually come quite close to being exposed during his last pickup of his shipment of books in Tronjheim.

Mercury had simply gone there, as he had done previously, but had on his way out happened to stumble into what appeared to be quite an elderly dwarf. Mercury had not paid him any mind at first and had quickly tried to apologize, so that he could be on his way again without any incidents, but a look of recognition had suddenly entered the dwarf's eyes.

Too late had Mercury realized why the dwarf looked slightly familiar, as he had previously been a young royal guard for Orik, whom had seen Mercury quite a lot during the time of the war against Galbatorix. Mercury had been too at ease with no one really being able to recognize him, as most of those who had seen him during that time had either passed away a long time ago or where quite content to never leave their given area of comfort, so he had stopped wearing too much of a disguise at the time during his encounter with the dwarf.

As soon as Mercury realized what had happened, he had already cast his spell to put the old dwarf asleep, after which Mercury had quickly poured some mead down the dwarf's throat and left the empty bottle in his hand, before getting out of Tronjheim in a hurry.

As a direct result of this, Mercury had again begun wearing disguises on his trips and had been forced to abandon any future visits to Tronjheim, until he was sure that all dwarves, whom could possibly have lived during the war against Galbatorix, had died.

The search for oddities combined with the copying of vast amounts of books from various libraries around Alagaësia had up until now taken about 8 years, but that did not mean that Mercury was finished with it, as he suspected that he probably never would be, but it did mean that he now believed that he had a large enough starting base to attract people to his library, who would then bring along more additions to it.

In fact all he really needed to do right now was to build the paved road, which was to go directly from his front entrance to the base of the mountain, just outside of the natural forest wall.

He would probably need to start at his own entrance and then work his way down, while simultaneously clearing the way for trees, as it would not only look suspicious if he started to build the road from the bottom and then up, but also be a logistical nightmare for him to have to transport the materials needed through the forest.

Besides, Mercury could not deny his amusement, when he pictured that the villagers just suddenly discovered that a new road going up the mountain had appeared overnight. Well not overnight, but with the thick foliage in the lower forest , nobody would notice the paved road until he laid the final few metres, which could easily be done at night to prevent any unwanted observers.

_The road is not all you have yet to do before you can officially open this place_, Kilgharrah cut into Mercury's thoughts.

_What do you mean?_, Mercury asked confused.

_Well, unless you want people to simply refer to this place as the library or the project, as you have been doing for the last 34 years, then it would need a name_, Kilgharrah replied with just a tiny amount of teasing present in his voice.

_You could have a point there_, Mercury grumbled, while he absentmindedly began to rub his right temple with his right middle finger, while the rest of his hand kept his head steady.

_Could have?_, Kilgharrah said in a voice, which Mercury had learned to recognize meant that he was half making fun of Mercury and half being insulted at Mercury's suggestion that he could ever be wrong.

_Fine! Do have_, Mercury replied back in a tired tone, _but I have not heard any suggestions from you either yet. Why is that?_

_Perhaps I have other more important things to do_, Kilgharrah said in a smug voice.

_Yeah. Where are you anyway? I thought that you would have been back from your trip by now_, Mercury answered, as he began to search the skies for any signs of aerial displacements, as Kilgharrah had made it into a hobby to try and blend in with the sky, and then suddenly drop down right next to Mercury to try and startle him.

_Oh, I will probably not be back in a couple of days_, Kilgharrah replied in a very slightly sheepish voice, _I made another appointment_.

Mercury only just managed to catch a glimpse of an orange female dragon, before Kilgharrah managed to suppress it.

_Wild or bonded?_, Mercury simply asked Kilgharrah.

_I am not quite sure yet_, Kilgharrah replied, _she seems feisty enough to be wild, but has an undragon-like calmness and collectiveness about her too_.

_Just do not ask me to babysit again_, Mercury grunted, _you do remember how the last mother took it after you had left your hatchling with me for a mere two months?_

_I will keep that in mind_, Kilgharrah merely replied with a mental chuckle, before he cut off the link.

Still slightly chuckling too, Mercury turned around to watch his library as a first time observer would. He and Kilgharrah both knew that even if dragons decided to mate, it did automatically mean that they were having eggs, but the conversation was just much more amusing this way.

_Now for a name for you_, Mercury mused to himself, _I could name it Hvass Islindr, but that might seem like favouring the elves, besides, I am not quite sure whether my translation is correct. Edoc'sil seems appropriate when you consider the mountain as well, but that might be seen as a challenge to marauders, and it might also cause confusion with those that still remember Ristvak'baen by its former name_.

_Dûrgrimst Orodüm has a certain fitting to it as well, but that would definitely cause strife with the dwarves, despite the fact that it would directly translated be appropriate, _Mercury mused to himself, while running his hand through his hair.

After 30 minutes of coming up with at least 20 names for his library in the dwarven, Ancient and human language, Mercury had still come up empty, as he kept rejecting all of his names because someone would either take offense or that it might be translated wrong or cause some kind of confusion.

_Perhaps I have been looking at this the wrong way_, Mercury surmised, _I have kept choosing names from the languages of Alagaësia, which continually causes me trouble because people know what it means, but if I choose a name that either does not mean anything or where nobody here would understand its meaning, then I would be free of this problem_

And not two minutes later, a name popped into Mercury's head. It was a name, which he believed both fitted the place, would make sure that no one could take offense, and actually fitted quite well with his name for the mountain as well.

Feeling oddly ceremonial, despite being the only one present for miles, except for his shrrgs, Mercury approached the front gate at a slow and steady place. When he finally reached it, he slowly raised his right hand and held out his index and middle finger, while the rest was constricted to a small ball, and said, while slowly lowering his fingers to the holly doorway, "I dub thee, Nolondil".

**Havren POV  
**Havren was a simple 23 year old farmer at Norigo. He had never been further away from his home village than what could be deemed as a simple hunting trip, and he was quite content to take over his father's piece of land, when the old man became too old to help with the harvest.

Havren did however like to take a walk close to the nearby mountain, as its immense wall of trees always made him curious as to what could be behind them. No one at Norigo had ever been able to penetrate the wall of trees that surrounded the mountain, but they could see from their village that it cleared up as you moved further up the mountain.

As a child, Havren had often played with his brothers that they were explorers and somehow managed to penetrate the deep forest-wall, so that they could discover the hidden land behind it. In their playtime, the land had been full of magical beings with a mysterious fog to cover the entire area in a constantly changing landscape, but such times were over now and Havren had long ago settled with never finding out what lay further up the mountain.

The village of Norigo had often had discussions about what exactly were up there, as there had occasionally been odd noises coming from the mountain. These discussions were however most often constricted to gossip over a beer at the local tavern, so no one really took them too seriously, despite most people at Norigo having an inert fear of the mountain.

For Havren, the occasional noises from the mountain had been there his whole life, so he was used to them and almost felt like it would be weird if there were none, but to some of the elders at Norigo, the noises had not always been there.

Havren was currently out on one of these walks next to the mysterious mountain. It was a little past midday, and Havren had just had some oatmeal for lunch, which always made him feel slightly drowsy, so to keep from dozing off, he always took a walk instead.

He did not really pay much attention to his surroundings, as he had walked this route so often that he could practically walk it blindfolded, so when there suddenly was an inconsistency in his surroundings, he did not notice it until he stood right in front of it.

What he saw shocked him to his very core, because there, right in front of him, was a gap in the otherwise dense wall of trees. The gap was perhaps four metres wide and was completely cleared of trees, and on the ground laid the beginnings of a three metre wide paved road, which seemed to have been made from the purest white marble.

It was as if a divine entity had suddenly swept down and placed the road there for people to use, as Havren remembered that it certainly had not been there just a few days prior, and no mere man could possibly tame the forest of this mountain, and yet something had done so within the span of a few days.

Although initially conflicted about whether to go up the road or simply turn back, Havren eventually gave in to his curiosity at having to be the first to witness what lay further up the mountain, so he began his trek up the road.

The road was quite dark, as Havren ventured a little further into it, and soon the only thing that kept him going in the right direction was the whiteness of the paved road. He continued at a wary yet leisurely pace for perhaps another hour and a half, although it was quite hard to tell time in this perpetual darkness.

Finally the road seemed to lighten up, and it was not much further before Havren exited the dense woods and was able to look at what was in front of him, which not only made him drop his jaw completely, but also seemed to knock any thoughts from his head.

In front of Havren, the paved road continued in a straight line towards what he could only describe as the biggest structure that he had ever seen, while copper beeches lined the sides of the road at a regular interval. The building looked to be made completely of stone, except for its massive wooden doorway, which seemed to be made with either giants or dragons in mind, and had some sort of white statues lying at each side of it, while great towers and spires protruded from the base of the structure and higher into the air than Havren could ever dream of.

Extending from the sides of the massive building were two walls, which seemed to go out further than Havren could see. Although he knew that the walls were of a slightly higher than average wall size, they looked like nothing more than a large fence when compared to the massive building.

It was only then, when Havren truly was able to look at the massive doorway, that he realized that what he had previously described as some white lying statues, started to move and look straight at him. Havren did not know exactly what these creatures were, as they looked a lot like wolves, only with the size of a horse, but he was currently not too eager to find out first hand.

_I need to get away from here and warn the guards at my village_, Havren thought to himself, while he slowly backed back put from the way, which he had come, _for only mages of great power or shades could possibly hope to control beasts like these, and build things like this. We need the king's help to deal with this_!

And with that final thought, Havren turned around and sprinted all the way back to Norigo without ever pausing or slowing down, for his fear drove him to do things, which he previously thought impossible to do.


	6. A kingly visit

Congratulations to Cretha Loesing again, although he has only found half of my hidden references, so there should still be some left.

On another note, I would like to tell you that I might be posting a sketch of Mercury in the future. A childhood friend of mine, who is also a part-time artist, and I have begun to sketch out ideas for the sketch and so on, but it might take a while before it is completed, so do not get any expectations just yet.

Now without further ado, I present to you A kingly visit. Enjoy

* * *

**A kingly visit**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Monday of the 2****nd**** week of 77 ADG  
**I have just attended Orik's funeral, it came sooner than any of us expected. I thought that he would have at least between a half and a full year left, but I guess it could not be so. His family buried him in stone along with the previous rulers of the dwarves, as he should be.

Soon the clans will meet to discuss who should be their next ruler, but I will not be here to witness it when they do. Nothing holds me in Tronjheim anymore, and I have no further wish to be here.

I have therefore decided to seek sanctuary in Ellesméra, where I hope that Islanzadi will allow me to dwell for a while. It is my hope that the peaceful sanctuary of the elven capitol will help to ease my transition from war towards a life in peace.

**High King Ajihad's POV  
**High King Ajihad was rather new to the throne of the Empire, having only ascended a few years back, after his father passed away from an incurable illness. He had yet to marry someone and give the Empire an heir, but he knew that in not so long, he would have to.

His most likely candidate for marriage would probably be the second princess of the Surdan royal family, as an effort to further increase the bond between the two nations. Ajihad had nothing against the second princess; she seemed to be well behaved, her beauty was among the fairest of the Surdan kingdom, and the marriage would ensure the alliance between their two kingdoms for a while longer.

The alliance that had been created at the end of the Great War against Galbatorix by his great grandmother, High Queen Nasuada the Just, had been slowly deteriorating since it had been formed. It had all started with that blasted Shadow War, where not so many nobles had publicly acclaimed that some of the Surdan nobles and even the Surdan royal family were supporting the Black Hand, although both High Queen Nasuada and King Orrin had denounced any such affiliation.

The nobles themselves had a few years later later all been found dead in either seemingly completely random or unaccountable accidents, or from sudden health issues. Although investigations were conducted into each of their cases, no one could find any evidence of it being an assassination in any of them.

The matter had unfortunately not ended with the nobles' deaths, as the seed of discord had already been sown among the Empire and Surda, but so far his predecessors, along with their Surdan counterparts, had managed to keep the discord to a minimum.

His reign had so far been peaceful and without much trouble, but Ajihad knew that a regent could never become too complacent, as threats to his subjects could arise at any moment. That was why, when news reached him that a village near the Spine had suddenly found a giant fortress within one of nearby mountain, which supposedly had, "white wolves as big as oxen and with fangs the size of swords and eyes that shone of the hell, which they had surely been spawned in" as guards, he had immediately begun to call a force together to deal with the new threat to his lands.

Ajihad knew that the story was probably an exaggerated one, but he could never be too careful with these matters, so he had assembled a force of 500 strong men with at least five talented magicians among them, excluding his own personal Nighthawk guards, and had marched there as soon as possible.

That was where he and his army were now, at the base of the mountain, which he had been informed was named Eregion by one of the scholars back at Ilirea. Before him was what could only be described as a true natural wall of trees, almost like nature itself never intended for men to venture up this mountain, except for a four metre wide hole in the trees, where a white pathway of marble had been lain.

According to the villagers, the road had supposedly appeared almost overnight, but none other than the first villager, who had seen the giant fortress, had dared to venture up the road.

"My lord", Gareth, his second in command, said from his horse beside Ajihad, "this seems to be the perfect setup for an ambush. If we were to march up this road, we would have to spread our soldiers into a long column, which could easily be dispatched".

With a sigh, Ajihad answered, "I fear that you are right, Gareth, but I cannot allow the possibility of a group of rogue mages or even worse, a shade, to claim my lands unchecked and unchallenged. Send scouts ahead to warn us of any threats and divide all of our magicians among the troops to provide light along the way".

"Yes, my lord", Gareth complied with a slightly grim expression, and then went about to carry out his orders.

_Gareth is right in his fears_, Ajihad thought to himself, _but I cannot afford to appear weak so early into my reign. I have to appear in control of my lands, or else the Surdans might begin to see it as a sign of weakness of the Empire, and although I know that the current king would not directly dare to declare war on me, he would not want his daughter to wed me either, which could compromise the alliance_.

_Oh, great grandmother, what would you do in my stead?_, Ajihad darkly mused to himself.

Before long, the army started to move up the road and into the forest. Ajihad had chosen to take lead to show to his men that he was willing to endure as much as them, and although the scouts had yet to report anything out of place, he could not stop a feeling of dread to creep up his spine.

In an attempt to focus on something else, Ajihad started to study the paved road, which he rode on. The road seemed to be made of white marble, which Ajihad had originally thought to be a waste, but in the dark, it seemed to help them keep on track.

It was wide enough for a carriage and a half to be there in width at any given time, but if you counted the half a metre gap between the road and the forest to each side, then two carriages could be there. It seemed like it was designed for carriages to be able to both go up and down it at the same time, but when they met, they would both have to move to the side to pass each other.

As they ventured further and further along the road, Ajihad began to notice that all the turns in the road looked like they had been made with a ruler, and that although the mountainside had appeared steep from the base of the mountain, they had never had too much of a climb on their way so far.

_It is almost like the people who built this wanted other people to have an easy time getting here_, Ajihad mused to himself, _this can both be a good and a bad thing. If they truly are friendly, then maybe we can negotiate their admittance into the Empire, but if they built it to be easy to get here in an attempt to lure more people up here then…_

Ajihad's thoughts where stopped when one of the scouts suddenly appeared in front of him. The scout looked like he had just witnessed a nightmare come to life, so Ajihad's hand had already moved to the hilt of his sword.

"My lord!", the scout gasped, while he attempted to continue speaking, but was too out of breath to do so.

"Calm yourself and take a few deep breaths, before you tell me what has happened", Ajihad said, while he signalled for one the soldiers to give the scout some water.

The scout thankfully accepted the waterskin and took a few gulps, before he continued, "the forest stops a little further down the road, but it is not a natural stop in the forest. It looks like someone deliberately cut a huge area free of trees and then, then there was this, this castle-thing there. I swear, my lord, it appears almost as massive as the entire royal keep of Ilirea, but that is not all. A great wall extends from its sides and further than any of my men could see. The worst part, however, were the wolves at the gate. One appeared to have grey fur and another silvery white, but both were the size of a horse".

Ajihad took a moment to comprehend all of this, before he in a low voice said to Gareth, "any ideas on what we could be facing, and what to do now?"

Gareth looked thoughtful for a moment, before he spoke in an equally low voice, "I have one idea as to what the wolves are, but it seems to be a bit farfetched. From the scout's descriptions, they appear to resemble the shrrgs of the Beor-mountains, but I have never heard of any to ever leave the protection that the mountains give them in order to venture into human lands, yet alone so far north, without anyone spotting them".

"I tend to agree with you on this, as I also suspected shrrgs", Ajihad said in a low voice, before he directed his attention towards the scout again, "tell me, how many men we would be able to hide in the forest when we venture near that place?"

The scout seemed to think to himself for a while, before he answered, "my best guess, my lord, would be 20-30 light-armoured men at each side of the road. Any more than that would be make too much noise and would do little more good than the ones at the back of the column".

"Excellent, I want you and one of the other scouts to take that number of men, along with a mage each, and prepare yourselves in the treeline at either side of the road. That way we will at least not be caught with all of our forces in the bottleneck", Ajihad commanded, which the scout quickly saluted to and then went to carry out his orders.

Before long, 60 of the men had disappeared into the forest and Ajihad's column began to move forward again. It only took a little while longer to reach the end of the forest, and although Ajihad truly was impressed with the sight before him, he also noted with dread that the amount of shrrgs had increased from the original two to a pack of at least 16-18.

The sun seemed to be setting behind Ajihad, which gave the massive structure in front of him a red glow that only seemed to confirm Ajihad's fear that blood would indeed be spilled tonight. Ajihad had not noticed that so much time had passed, while he had been marching through the forest, as it was quite dark in there, and the constant fear of ambush kept him alert.

Ajihad's men from the column had only managed to get the first 8 people out into the open, before growls could be heard from the shrrgs at the gate, which made everyone freeze to their spot.

"Have any of the mages found any signs of magical defences around the shrrgs or traps on the planes ahead?", Ajihad asked the captain of the Nighthawks.

"None so far, my lord", the captain answered, "but a clever mage could easily disguise his machinations, so that we would need more time and energy to find it".

"I understand", Ajihad said with a tired sigh, while he eyed the shrrgs, who seemed content to simply let them be, as long as no further soldiers ventured into the open, "how about their minds? Have you managed to find the people responsible for controlling them?"

"When we tried, the only thing that we could find was that they considered this as their den, which some were to guard, while others were to guard something else, along with a number of other odd rules, which should not be there" the captain said, "I fear that their focus on these rules and tasks prevents us from digging any further without them realizing that we are doing something to them".

"I see", Ajihad said and waved him away, _should I initiate an all-out attack on them or wait for their masters to show up? If I do that, then they might bring more with them, and that could be the death of more of my men, not to mention the possible outcome if they really are a powerful group of mages, or a shade. And since this is also part of my domain, then they are trespassing by claiming it as their own without even asking permission, so I am within my full right to do so_.

"Men, begin the attack!", Ajihad yelled, before he made his stallion charge forward, which was quickly followed by his men, along with those hidden in the treeline, but the men from the road could only come out three or four at a time, so it would be a while before every one of his men could join the battle.

On the other side of the plane, the shrrgs saw their advance and quickly began their own charge across the plane. It would only be a matter of moments before the two forces would clash, and although Ajihad was confident in his ability as a swordsman, he could not be sure that they would win against this many shrrgs, when their numbers were not at their fullest, but there were a higher chance of success now than if they had waited and more shrrgs had shown up.

Right before the two forces clashes, a powerful gust of wind suddenly occurred, which not only stopped everyone in their tracks, but even managed to blow most of the two forces away from each other. The gust had forced Ajihad's eyes closed, but when he felt the earth tremble underneath him, he knew that something incredibly large had just landed in between his forces and the shrrgs.

As he opened his eyes, he involuntarily gasped in fear and shock at the sight in front of him. In front of him, a dragon had landed, and was now scrutinizing him with its teeth bared, and although Ajihad had seen many dragons in his 24 years of life, he had never seen anyone this big.

Its scales were the colour of emeralds, while the head seemed to be a sharper triangle shape than most of those that he had seen. Its eyes were grey orbs that both seemed to speak of great wisdom and terrible rage.

"Fír- Fírnen?", Ajihad stuttered, for he knew no other dragon with green scales and such a size. Dread immediately began to form in his stomach, as he began to fear that he may not only have attacked an outpost of the dragon riders, but that he might be reprimanded by not only one their leaders, but also Queen Islanzadi's daughter.

A great and powerful entity suddenly pressed against his mind. It did not invade his mind, although Ajihad believed that it would be able to do so in mere seconds if it wanted to, instead it seemed to request entrance, which he only hesitantly allowed it, although he kept most of his thoughts hidden behind barriers.

_Do you see a saddle on my back, little-two-leg-leader?_, a distinctly male voice spoke.

"N- No", Ajihad managed to stutter out, before he collected himself and said in a more controlled voice, "why have you interfered with the dealings of the Empire? This matter does not concern wild dragons, such as yourself".

The male dragon seemed to bristle at this, and slightly behind him, the shrrgs seemed to form ranks on either side of him, as if the dragon was their pack-leader.

_It does not concern me that you attacked MY home?!_, the dragon spoke in an angry voice, _that you tried to kill those that are under MY protection?! What right do YOU have to do such a thing?!_

Although Ajihad knew that talking back to a dragon was generally considered a bad idea, especially when they were as large as this one, he still had to meet the challenge of his authority that the dragon had given him, "I am the High King of Alagaësia, King of the Empire, descendent from the great Nasuada the Just, and these lands stands under MY protection. You have no right to settle here without my permission, yet you dare to speak like I am the one intruding".

"You are right, the dragon has no right to these lands, but I have!", came an unknown but clearly angry voice from behind the massive dragon. The dragon's gaze never left Ajihad, but Ajihad noted that on the dragon's left side, the shrrgs seemed to part ways, before a figure emerged from behind them.

The figure was a man with long robes of a light-grey colour, and a hood which covered most of his face. A long grey beard, which at least reached his stomach, extended from the man's face, which made Ajihad realize that this person could possibly be older than his mother. On his left hand were a small ring, and in the left hand was the handle of a delicately carved dark wooden cane, which the old man supported himself to when he walked forward. Ajihad also noted that he was limping on his left leg.

When the old man reached the side of the dragon's head, he patted it slightly, while saying in a more gentle voice than he had spoken in before, "thank you for summoning me and stopping this before it began, old friend".

_Old friend?_, Ajihad thought with a slight tinge of worry, _who could possibly have befriended a wild dragon and earned such loyalty from it. This old man may appear weak, but I cannot afford to let my guard drop even the slightest_.

Ajihad then raised his sword, so that its tip was pointing at the old man, before he in a commanding voice spoke, "you say that these lands belongs to you, yet I have never given them to you, nor do I remember my father ever speaking of giving these lands to anyone. Who are you?!"

The old man directed his gaze back from the dragon and unto Ajihad, who, although the old man was clearly staring right at him, could not see the eyes or most of the face of the old man. The man then lifted both of his hands to the edges of his hood, and slowly lowered it to his shoulders, so that his face was visible.

The old man's face was mostly covered in the grey beard, but Ajihad could now see that the man's hair was a long grey mane, which descended down his back to a little under his shoulders. His eyes were blue of colour, but seemed at the same time both completely emotionless and far older than any Ajihad had seen since dealing with the immortals.

"You, the great grandson of Nasuada the Just, have never seen me at court nor granted me these lands, nor has your father, for these lands were given to me by your grandfather more than 34 years ago", the old man spoke, before he drew a small scroll from a pocket in the right side of his robe, which he quickly unfolded to reveal its contents, "this deed, along with the ring on my left hand, are proofs of this".

Ajihad quickly signalled for one of his men to bring him the document, which the person did as quickly as possible, as he was quite intimidated by the massive dragon next to the old man. Once it was brought to him, Ajihad scrutinized every little part of it, from the way the ink was written to the wordings used, and most importantly, the two stamps at the bottom. One was the royal stamp of his family, while the other was the personal stamp of the current ruler at that time, but he could find no fault in any of it.

"I see that there is no personal name on this document, only the name of the house, which it belongs to?", Ajihad asked in a questioning voice, "tell me, how do we even know that you belong to this house, and what is your name?"

"The ring on my finger identifies me as the only member this particular house", the old man said and showed Ajihad the ring on his left hand, while he grabbed the cane with his right, "if you dig through your list of the noble houses of Alagaësia, then this crest should be located on the page for the house of Sidhe, along with reasons why my name matters not".

"Still, I would like to know what to call you when we next meet", Ajihad persisted, as he knew that the old man tried to avoid this as much as possible.

"You can call me the Sidhe, caretaker of Nolondil, my home which you see before you, lord of Eregion, or simply the librarian. Whichever suits you", the old man said with a slight shrug.

"Alright, caretaker of Nolondil, expect to hear from me again", Ajihad said with a final nod towards the old man, before he turned his horse around and shouted, "we move out, men!"

**Time skip(a month later)**  
Ajihad was pacing in his study. He had immediately set his scholars to search through archives to locate the supposed noble house, and had found that there indeed was such a house, which seemed to be sporting some strange rules, unlike any other noble house.

Ajihad could now understand why the old man had said that his name was unimportant, as the rules clearly stated that there could be only one member of the house at any given time, which effectively meant that every title and name the man had given to Ajihad, except the somewhat weird librarian one, would be passed on to the next ruler of the house when the time came.

His grandfather had even left notes on the house, where he described how it had come to be, with the audience of a young man, supposedly the disciple of Mercury Iridium. His grandfather had continued to write how he in the first years after the audience had tried to send out search parties to locate the young man's abode, but they had been unable to get past the forest, and no one in the nearby village had ever heard of him, so they had abandoned the search.

This had only served to fill Ajihad with even more worry, as he now knew that not only did the old man have a dragon for an ally, shrrgs as guards, quite possibly magic talents, although none of his mages had found any wards around him or any other signs of magic while they were there, but he had also been personally trained by the infamous Mercury Iridium himself.

Hence, Ajihad had paced in his study for more than a week now, in an attempt to uncover anything that could ensure that this person did not become a threat. He could not directly order the entire place searched by guards and have his mind swept through by the mage's order, as he had no concrete evidence of any wrongdoings, and the caretaker of Nolondil had made it quite clear in their last correspondence that he did not need any of the king's guards to ensure the safety of his domain.

_I need someone to keep an eye on him_, Ajihad mused to himself, _spies will not due, they would never get into that place with the shrrgs guarding it, and I doubt that they would be able to do much against him anyway, if he is as dangerous as I believe him to be. He would probably just kill them and I could not claim that he attacked my servants, as that would prove that I had tried to force my way inside. I need someone that he cannot refuse, someone who will not cover at the sight of that dragon, someone powerful and who wants peace to continue_.

Just like that, the answer to his problems hit him. Ajihad quickly motioned a servant over and told him, "tell the leader of the dragon riders stationed in Alagaësia that I request to speak with him".


	7. Entrance

**Entrance**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Wednesday of the 22****nd**** week of 78 ADG  
**I have dwelled in Ellesméra for a while now, almost an entire year, as a personal guest of Islanzadi. Quite a few of the elves are curious as to why their queen would do this, but none have yet confronted me about it, although I believe that my every move is being watched by them.

The dreams have yet to recede, but that is not what troubles me the most, because I have found that the confusion, as to where and when I am, have begun to slowly spread towards the daylight hours as well. I still believe that if I merely focus enough on the present, then I should be able to stop the confusion.

I can see in Islanzadi's eyes as well as her speech that she is worried about my wellbeing, but her elven sense of manners and her own inhibitions prevents her from voicing her concern. I do not believe that it will be long though, before she eventually does.

Dragon riders are making more frequent stops here than in Tronjheim, and I was able to get a few details out from some of them, as to how Kilgharrah is doing. Apparently he has become quite the caretaker of the wild dragons, and is the most used medium between the dragon riders and the wild dragons.

I am quite happy for him, and I know that I have broken my promise of going to see him once I was done here in Alagaësia, but now I believe that I made the right choice, as he should not see me like this. I will visit him once this phase is over, of that I am certain.

**Fagosh POV  
**Fagosh was an urgal rider of 82 years of age. He had bonded with his earth-brown dragon, Hakotha, at the age of 14, as the fourth urgal to ever bond with a dragon. His training at the dragon rider city of Estildirin had only recently been finished, after which he had been sent on the traditional trip to Alagaësia.

The tradition among the new order of dragon riders was that after a rider had first bonded with a dragon, then that rider would either be transported to Ellesméra or Tronjheim for further instructions and training for between five to six years. The rider would then be brought to the east to complete his training in the city that Eragon and Arya Shadeslayers, masters of the riders, founders of Estildirin, along with many other titles, had built from nothing, with only the aid of nine of their elven guards.

The training in Etildirin was quite extensive and could, depending on the individual, take from between 40-60 years to complete. After a novice dragon rider had finally completed the training, he or she would be sent to Alagaësia to perform their first task on their own, although an elder rider would supervise them and interject if necessary.

The first mission was usually never something alarmingly difficult, but neither was it supposed to be a walk in the park, so that was why, when Fagosh learned that his first mission would be to discreetly investigate some old hermit up on some remote mountain for magical activities, he had been quite disappointed.

Fagosh had cheered up a little, when he had learned that said hermit had apparently somehow managed to employ shrrgs as guards for his estate, along with befriending a wild dragon. That was where he was heading now, to the mountain of Eregion and its apparently only settlement, Nolondil.

His master was flying alongside him on his dragon, Rufnar. His master had been the very first dwarven rider, but had apparently chosen to remain in Alagaësia to help with both the newly hatched dragon riders and the novices that was about to undertake their very first mission, instead of joining the rest of the eldest and wisest riders at the council in Estildirin.

_We are almost there_, said Hakotha, within Fagosh's mind, in his usual strong deep voice. Hakotha's voice had always been strong and deep, almost like a commander's voice to his soldiers.

Hakotha sent a mental nod of confirmation, before he mentally began to prepare what to say in order to gain entrance with the, according to rumours, completely unwelcoming and rude lord of Eregion.

His musings were cut short when Hakotha dived under the clouds to begin his descent, because on the ground below them was the forest-covered mountain of Eregion, except for a rather large area, which seemed to have been made artificially, as indicated by the stone wall encircling it.

Fagosh had to admit that the encircled area was quite huge; he could even see an entire lake in one corner of it, and from Hakotha's mind, he could see entire orchards of fruit trees, a huge garden, massive additional buildings aside from the main one, and herds, of what he recognized to be feldûnost, wandering around the area, which were guarded by…more shrrgs?

_Wolves guarding sheep_, Hakotha rumbled in laughter at the realization, which Fagosh could only laugh nervously with too.

Their direction then changed to the front porch of the massive stone structure that apparently housed only one person. Hakotha landed in front of the wooden doorway to the castle, which had two shrrgs lying on either side of it , but in between the rows of copper beeches; their masters landed slightly behind them, so as to keep out of the way and out of sight unless necessary.

While Fagosh studied the incredible structures in front of him, along with those that they had seen from the air, a single thought permeated his mind, _this guy cannot have built all of this?_

It was not long before the wooden doorway in front of him opened to reveal an old man with a long grey beard, a silvery white robe with a hood, a dark wooden cane in his left hand, which Fagosh noted had a silvery ring on it, and under his right arm was a large old tome.

The old hermit looked firstly at Fagosh, without as much as quirking and eyebrow at his horns and imposing stature, which was not something most people usually did.

_Perhaps he is used to urgalgras?_, Hakotha suggested.

_Or perhaps he simply does not view me as a threat, in which case he is either incredibly sure of himself or has simply lost all fear of death_, Fagosh countered.

The old hermit's gaze then fell upon Hakotha, who stared directly back at him with as scrutinizing a look as possible. This seemed to bring a smile to the hermit's lips, although it was hard to actually see the lips for all that hair.

"I see that dragons have not lost their wilful nature and intimidating gazes yet", the hermit said in an almost amused voice, as if being stared down by a dragon, which could eat you whole in a single mouthful in less than a second, was nothing more than the highlight of an otherwise boring day, before he directed his gaze back on Fagosh and said, "so what brings two riders and their dragons to my dwelling?"

"My name is Fagosh of the kulnarsh tribe, and this is my dragon, Hakotha. Our masters, behind us, are Jörkmund the First and his dragon, Rufnar the Patient", Fagosh said, before he started the traditional elven greeting with sweep of his hand to his sternum, "atra esterní ono thelduin".

The old hermit seemed to regard Fagosh for a while, during which Fagosh did not waver in his position. Fagosh only just managed to doubt whether the old man actually understood what he was doing, before he did something that Fagosh had certainly not expected him to do.

The lord of Eregion chose to expose his throat in the traditional urgal greeting, before he completed the ritual with a,"atra du evarínya ono varda", and waved off any further attempts at the optional third line.

The hermit then said something to Jörkmund in a language that Fagosh did not understand, although Jörkmund clearly did, as he quickly replied in the same language, before the hermit's gaze once again wandered to Hakotha, where it stayed while he said, "now that the pleasantries are over, can you tell me why you are here?"

"We would like to enter your estate and stay here for a while", Fagosh bluntly said in an attempt to redirect the hermit's attention back on him, as he was a bit unnerved about the amount of attention that the stranger seemed to give Hakotha.

The hermit's blue eyes only briefly dared to meet Fagosh's yellow ones, before he returned to study Hakotha, where he said, "I see. And here I thought that I had just received my first true visitors."

"How are we not your first visitors if we are seeking to visit your place?", Fagosh asked confused, before he in a slightly irritated voice said, "and would you stop studying my dragon like a prized cow!"

"Peace younglings", the old man said with his hands up in surrender, which Fagosh thought to be a bit weird, as he was probably more than 30 years older than him, although he may not look so, before the old man continued, "besides, I would never dare to look at any dragon that way. This one simply fascinates me. Tell me, how old was his egg when you first touched it around 50-60 years ago?"

Taken aback by the sudden change of topics, Fagosh still managed to answer, "I believe it was no more than 13 years old, when I touched it 68 years ago, but how come this interest?"

"Nothing really, I merely wanted to see how well you could compose yourself at an old man's antics", the hermit said with a shrug, although Fagosh received a feeling from Hakotha that that was not the entire reason.

_He is deranged_, Fagosh thought across his bond with Hakotha.

_His mind seems too sharp and his speech too glib to be deranged. I would more say that he was either testing you as he says_, Hakotha countered, before adding in an slightly joking voice, _or he could be bored enough to find entertainment in confusing novice riders. Under any circumstances, you should be as mindful to what he says as you would an elf_.

"Oh well, back to the question at hand", the old hermit loudly said, "you are no true visitors here unless you come to visit my library, so therefore you are not the first visitors".

"If it has been built with as much care as this building, then I would certainly love to take a peek at it", Jörkmund said from behind Fagosh.

"Excellent, excellent", the old hermit exclaimed in an excited voice, like he had just received a present, "I was beginning to wonder whether anyone would ever show up, but two dragon riders as my first visitors are surely nothing to sneer at. I cannot wait to see what contributions you have brought".

"Contributions? Waiting for someone to visit?", Fagosh said confused, "why would you try to scare people away from here and then hope for someone to visit, and what is this about contributions? Is it a gold fee, like in an inn or?"

"Oh no, it is nothing like that", the hermit said, while waving the hand that was not holding the cane, "the contribution is a simple matter of adding some piece of art, literature, rare objects or other such things that my library does not already have, to the library, so that others might enjoy it, as it says right here in stone writing above my doorway. And as for trying to scare people away, I believe that I have tried to make it as easy and pleasantly for people to get here as possible, with building the paved road through the woods, making this front porch, along with generally having made accommodations for more than 30 people to live in their separate chambers inside my home".

"And the shrrgs?", Fagosh suspiciously asked.

"Simply a different kind of guards than what the rest of the Empire utilizes. They are completely harmless once they have learned to recognize your scent", the old hermit said, and as if to emphasize his point, began to rub one of the shrrgs behind its ears, "now am I to understand that you have no new additions to make?"

"I have the fourth edition of Golvek' travels through the Hadarac-desert in my backpack", Jörkmund said from behind Fagosh.

"Will not do, I already have the fifth edition collecting dust, but if you have the tales of Odgar and Hlordis with you, then I would be interested in that. I forgot that one the last time I was near a dwarven city", the old man said, "but if you do not have that one either, then an original piece of art by yourself would suffice, as long as you really put some effort into it, as it will be displayed for everyone to be able to see. And as for you, Fagosh, then I would be more than honoured if you could bring me some original urgalgra culture. It can be anything from a simple mural depicting a battle to a book of folktales or children stories".

"Is this like the Agaetí Blödhren, where our dragons must also give their own contributions?", jörkmund asked.

"No, I count you as a single entity", the old man replied with a wave of his right hand, "besides, I find it hard to imagine a dragon looking through a tome. The only way most dragons learns what is written is by learning it from their riders, and if you are going to share that memory anyway, then it would not matter whether it was inside or outside of my walls".

"I see, is there a place where Rufnar can be, while I finish my piece of art?", Jörkmund asked.

"I have made accommodations for up to three visiting dragons at any given time in some structures behind this building, but he cannot take the fourth building with dragon statues on top. That one is always reserved for a special guest", the old man said, while giving directions with his right hand, "there is a lake, where your dragon can bath and drink from, deer and boars in the forest, but if he is too tired to hunt, then I can arrange for a feldûnost to be brought to him".

"If this is how you treat all of your guests, then I foresee that many more will come", Jörkmund said and bowed his head in gratitude.

"You have yet to see your chambers yet", the old hermit said with a twinkle in his eyes and a smirk on his lips, "but as long as they bring with them objects of desire, then how can I complain. I, after all, built this entire thing to attract just such sorts of people".

After that, only light conversation was made, before Fagosh and Hakotha departed for Fagosh's home village, where he would pick up some of the urgalgra culture, while the lord of Eregion led Rufnar inside to his room.

**Time skip(two days later)  
**Fagosh was just returning from his home village. With him, he had brought an old mural depicting the story of how Galbatorix lost half his army in the Spine. It was not particularly special or rare, but the old hermit had said that anything regarding to urgalgra culture would do, so Fagosh guessed that it would be alright.

_Why do you think that he knows about the urgalgra customs, but has seemingly never set foot at an urgalgra village?_, Hakotha asked Fagosh.

Fagosh had, shortly after they had left, scried almost all of the local village shamans that he knew, and asked them whether they had ever had dealings with an old man with a long grey beard. Everyone had denied that any such dealings had ever occurred, as most regular human still did not dare to venture near their settlements, the only visitors that they ever had were dragon riders and ambassadors.

_I do not know, but it is just another part of the puzzle that needs to be solved for this mission_, Fagosh replied.

After that, they flew in silence, exchanging only emotions and non-verbal thoughts to each other along the way. It was not long before they once again set foot outside of Nolondil, where their master Jörkmund swiftly came out to see them, along with the lord of Eregion.

"I see that you have returned. This is excellent timing, as I was just about to review your master's poem", the old man, who was now dressed in a deep sapphire blue robe, said, "come with us inside. Hakotha, you are welcome to do as you like".

Fagosh nodded his head, while Hakotha took off behind him, but before he could follow them inside, a growl began to emanate from the two shrrgs at the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot", the old hermit said and limped back to stand beside Fagosh, "you will need to let them get acquainted with your scent, so stick out your hand, so they can sniff it for a while".

Fagosh only did as he was told to after a nod of confirmation from Jörkmund had ensured him that he too had undergone this. The shrrgs sniffed experimentally at his hand for a while, before one of them took a lick at it and ran away.

"Why did it do that?", Fagosh asked confused.

"Well, all of the others need to know your scent too", the lord of Eregion said, "I am not entirely sure how they do it, but it does save time from having to introduce you to the entire pack".

"I see", Fagosh said and followed them inside; this time without as much as a hiss from the remaining shrrg.

Inside the front door, there was a small half-circular room, which had seven doors spread evenly out. Above each door was not written a name, nor was there a direction of where you were going written, but instead there was simply written a three-digit number.

"What does this mean?", Fagosh said and pointed up towards the number of the door that they were about to enter. Its number was 100.

"That means that we are about to enter the 100-section", the lord of Eregion said, "I had originally wanted to let you know later in the tour, but I might as well tell you now. Each and every room in here has been given a number-code. This number-code can tell you exactly where in the castle the room is located and what it is used for. The 100-section is the residential area for visitors and guests, while the 200-section is the mess halls and kitchens, the 300-section is the lounge area, the 400-section is the library, the 500-section is the museum, the 600-section is the storage rooms, and finally the 700-section is my personal section, where I have my study, my office and my personal chambers, which you are not allowed to enter without permission from me".

"The system is so that the first digit of the number that I give you, tells you the section, the second digit tells you the sub-room or hallway, or in the case of the library, the floor, while the third and final digit tells you what room in the sub-room or hallway you want to enter. The ones that end with a 0 means that it is a sub-room or a hallway", the hermit explained, "for example, your room-number is 112, which means that you need to head to the 100-section, where you will enter the 100 room first, which will then give you the opportunity to enter six different rooms labelled 110-160, where a further five room will be located, which will then be labelled with a 111-115 and so on. Precise information about each section's rooms, along with a map of the layout, are available in each of your chambers".

"Impressive!", Fagosh said astounded, "to think that you built all of this by yourself, without anyone ever noticing. Simple impressive".

"Yes, it was quite hard and long work", the old man said, before he flinched slightly and touched his right temple with his right middle finger, "but I certainly could not have done it all alone. Else I would not have finished before more than a century had passed".

_Seems like the wild dragon was listening in on the conversation_, Jörkmund mentally said to Fagosh.

_Yes, it would appear so. Tell me have you met him yet?_, Fagosh replied.

_Unfortunately not_, Jörkmund said, before he, to the lord of Eregion, said, "I have been curious to meet the wild dragon that you apparently has befriended. Can you tell me where he is? Does he not live in that specially decorated part of the dragon hold, because it seems to be empty?"

"He comes and goes as he likes", the old man replied with a shrug, while he continued to lead them through the hallway to the 100-room, "as of right now, I believe that he is quite busy with…other activities".

After that, the lord of Eregion continued his tour of the place, where he among other things showed them the important rooms, and told them what was allowed to do where, such as no eating or drinking in the library and the museum, and only being allowed to visit him in his office between these and these hours, which could all be seen on the massive clock on one of the towers. Luckily, Fagosh did not have to memorize all of these rules immediately, as there was also a copy of them in each and every one of the residential chambers.

* * *

Just a little note that I felt like sharing; I have finally finished writing the chapter that introduces my favourite person of this story, so...YAY! I did introduce said character very vaguely before I actually began on this story, but only very vaguely.  
In other slightly related news; I probably will not be able to write another chapter before my exams are over, which is not before the 19th, but as I have mentioned numerous times; fear not, for I have prepared for this.


	8. The needle in the haystack

Hey, I have been entertaining the idea of making a database with all the important OC's of my stories, which I will then update from time to time. Kind of like those character pages on wikipedia sites with character personality, history, etc.. I would therefore like to hear your thoughts on the matter and if I do end up making it, I would be fairly open to adjustments from the readers, as I intended it to be mostly compromised of information and conclusions that any reader could have made, although I may add a thing or two that is not said in the stories, but that I, as the author and inventor of the OC, would like to add to that character. It was actually for that reason that I try to get a drawing of Mercury made.**  
**

* * *

**The needle in the haystack**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Sunday of the 37****th**** week of 78 ADG  
**Yesterday was a most troubling day. I find that I myself cannot remember anything of yesterday, but according to Islanzadi, several elves had had to restrain me, while I was screaming random things about the Black Hand, and apparently at one time thought that I was engaged in a battle of some sort with them.

The incident caused quite an uproar from some of the elven lords and ladies, but so far Islanzadi has managed to calm them down, but I do not know for how long they will simply let things go on as they have.

Following the incident, Islanzadi also demanded to know for how long I had been battling these demons, as she called them. At first I was hesitant to admit anything, but once I got going, I just could not stop myself and told her everything about it.

She quite strongly suggested that I should seek some sort of elven therapy with an old acquaintance of hers, but I refused on the grounds that no one, not even someone sworn to secrecy, could ever know of what had transpired.

Islanzadi hesitantly let me have my way, but said that she would post guards to watch over me from now on and until this matter has been settled. A decision that I, although I despise the notion of needing guards, approved of.

**Fagosh POV  
**It had been two months since Fagosh had first set foot in Nolondil, and during that time, he had yet to uncover even a single piece of the puzzle that he was supposed to solve. The lord of Eregion had proved to either be a master of hiding his magical talents and endeavours, or he might simply not have any.

Fagosh was very doubtful that all of this could have been constructed by one man without magic, even with the aid of a dragon, but doubting it and proving it was proving to be two very different things. Fagosh continued to contemplate on this, as he began to walk from his chambers to the kitchens.

On the plus side, the rooms that they had been given were quite nice, they even had individual baths like in Ellesméra, although Fagosh had yet to find out where the water came from, as the only water supply seemed to be the lake, and it was frozen during this time of year, despite it only being late fall.

The rooms were not overly extravagant, like in almost every royal palace that Fagosh had ever been in, but that seemed to almost be a theme throughout the entire building. Almost everything was made to be of use and not just some showcase furniture, and even the things without practical purpose had clearly been purposely planted there for some reason, although Fagosh had yet to figure out some of them.

The food was free too; the only requirement was that if you took some from the storage, then you must replace it with some from either the gardens or the orchards, although this was impossible at this time of year. Meat was not something that Fagosh had eaten for more than 60 years, so he had never bothered to read what you would need to do if you took some of that.

The kitchens were all well stocked in herbs, spices and other ingredients, along with the rest of the cooking tools. So far, Fagosh and his master had never eaten with the lord of the estate, and neither had they ever seen him in the kitchens.

Fagosh could now see the flameless torch of the dwarves a few metres ahead, which the old man had said that he had bought from a clan of dwarves, so Fagosh instantly turned to face the wall, where he had discovered the number 234 on, which he had quickly found out meant that a secret tunnel extended from here and to near that room, if you knew what to do.

Fagosh quickly corrected the slight crookedness of the 2, which then provoked a hiss of air to be released, before a previously hidden doorway swung open to reveal a passage. This was only one of several such passages that Fagosh had found during his stay here, although none of them appeared on the layout of the place.

_It is almost like he wants people to go look for them_, Fagosh mused to himself, _some, like the one that I just used, are fairly simple and obvious, while others require more investigation and cunning to find. If I did not find the idea so ridiculous, I would say that he purposely let some be extremely easy to find as a sort of bait to make people see how many more they can find, as a sort of amusement to himself, but that cannot be the case, for no one in their right mind would go to such lengths for entertainment_.

As he thought about this, Fagosh remembered how, when he had asked him about the secret tunnels, the supposed builder of the place had merely put on a clearly fake expression of surprise and had said that he had no idea that they were even there, although he apparently never could completely extinguish the smirk on his face.

Fagosh would be dining alone this morning, as his master had told him that he would be looking through the library's section of dwarven art, which apparently was quite extensive. Fagosh never really had had time to properly check out the library, as he had been busy trying to find something incriminating about the owner of it, but he could still to this day feel the astonishment that he had first felt, when he first laid eyes upon the seemingly endless rows of aisles, which were all filled with books. The aisles were not just on one floor, no, they continued for another four floors, although the top one was mostly empty.

If Fagosh would have to guess, then he would estimate that 75 % of the building had been dedicated to that library, 10 % to the adjacent museum, while the remaining 15 % were spread out across everything else.

Fagosh soon reached the other end of the secret passageway, where he then exited from and made it the final bit to the kitchen, where he then started to prepare his breakfast, consisting mostly of fruits. After finishing, he went to the adjacent mess hall and started eating.

The museum itself was nothing to scoff at either, although Fagosh had surely seen far better, but most of it was empty anyway, so he guessed that it too was an on-going project that would eventually rival even those in Ellesméra and Ilirea, if this collector had his way.

"You know, I prefer some oatmeal as my cereal", came a voice that Fagosh instantly knew who belonged to, and one that made Fagosh stop with his fork halfway between the plate and his mouth.

"You prefer the poor farmer's meal?", Fagosh asked, before he in a more inquisitive voice said, "and when do you even eat? Neither I, nor my master, has ever seen you in the kitchens or the mess hall".

"Perhaps you have simply not been there at the correct hour. You know us old people do not have the same sleeping patterns as you young ones", the cheerful lord said, before he popped himself down on the chair opposite from Fagosh with an apple and a knife.

Fagosh continued to eat his breakfast, while the man opposite from him began to carve out slices of his apple, which he then slowly ate, almost like he had to decide on whether to even eat every single bite he took.

"Why do you continue to refer to me as young?" Fagosh asked between mouthfuls, "you should already know that dragon riders stay in their prime for their entire life, and you know that my dragon hatched for me 68 years ago".

The old man opposite from him stopped what he was doing and looked directly into Fagosh's eyes, before he in a very serious voice said, "tell me, would you consider yourself young, mature or old, despite never changing in appearance?"

"I am not young", Fagosh stated, "but neither do I feel like an old crippling, so I must answer with mature. Why, do you consider yourself old and spent?"

The lord opposite from him chuckled a bit at this, as he said, "I am very old, when you compare my life to that of a human, but I do not consider myself entirely spent. But back to my reasoning behind this; if you consider yourself to be at the prime of your age, despite being older than most humans could ever dream of becoming, does that then mean that these older people, which are still younger than you, possesses less or more life experience, or have more or less wisdom than you?"

Fagosh let that sink in for a while, before he thoughtfully said, "I guess that if you compare what I have done throughout my life to that of an ordinary human grandfather, then he would know more about children, family and general life than me, despite my superior knowledge due to my training, and he might even be more life-wise than me because of the experiences in his life".

"Wisely said for someone who is just about to embark on the true journey of being a dragon rider, but do not worry, wisdom will come with experience", the old man said, before he looked at his half eaten slice of apple and sighed slightly, before tossing it into his mouth.

Fagosh took that as a sign that he was free to eat as well now, so he quickly began to eat his breakfast again, but before he could take the first bite, a thought struck him that he had wondered about for some time, but never gotten around to asking about.

"I have to ask", Fagosh nervously said, which seemed to catch the old man's interest far more than the slice of apple that he was about to chew in to, "are you not afraid of someone stealing from the museum, or the library for that matter? Some of what you have stored there could be sold for a fortune".

"Not at all", the old man simply said with a small shrug.

"You have that much faith in your shrrg guards that you do not fear thieves?", Fagosh said, and even though he still thought the shrrg to be formidable in their own right, he would still bet that quite a few thieves would dare to try and venture through them to get to these treasures.

"Well, yes and no", the lord of Eregion said with a small smile at his lips, "yes, in that I believe that my shrrgs would scare away most burglars just by being there, and catch the main part of those that still ventured through, but, no, I know that they would never be able to catch the most determined and skilled thieves that sets their eyes on what is not theirs".

"You know this, and yet you show no concern for the matter?", Fagosh asked confused.

"Why should I? The objects would quickly be back on display again", the lord of Eregion mysteriously said.

"You would buy them back from those that stole them? Or perhaps hire new thieves to steal them for you?", Fagosh asked suspiciously, before adding, "or would they simply magically walk back here?"

"He he, nothing quite so mysterious", the lord simply said while chuckling, before he added in a slightly more serious voice, "and despite me being wealthy, I am not nearly wealthy enough to sustain something like the first option either. The thieves would simply make it into an industry", before he reached over and took one of the napkins from beside Fagosh, which he then swiftly wiped his hands and mouth with.

Fagosh did not even think of going back to eating breakfast, this conversation was simply too exciting for something that mundane to overrule it, so he tried to press on, "that still does not answer why you do not fear thieves".

"Would you like to see some magic?", the old man said in a complete change of topics, which would normally not have deterred Fagosh from pressing on, but this was why he was here after all, so he answered, "yes, if you could that would be fascinating. I have never seen non-dragon rider humans do magic before".

"Alright", the old man said with a knowingly smile, before he did something that Fagosh did not expect him to do. The lord of Eregion pulled out from his robes a deck of playing cards, which he then presented to Fagosh and said, "pick a card, any card that you wish".

"How is this magic?", Fagosh asked suspiciously, but continued to do as he was told anyways. He had received the ten of clubs.

"Memorize the card, but do not let me see it, and then put the card back into the pile at a location of your choosing", the old man said, like it was something rehearsed but halfway forgotten.

When Fagosh had put the card back into the deck, the old man began to shuffle it for a while, before he asked Fagosh to do it to be sure that he had not cheated. During this entire time, Fagosh had tried to keep an eye on his card as hard as he could, but it had quickly proved too difficult to distinguish one card from another, so he had resorted to merely keeping an eye on the old man instead.

Finally the shuffling came to a halt, before the old man closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate deeply, with both his middle fingers at his temples. Fagosh halfway expected him to begin probing his mind, but no such notions ever came, and a moment later, the lord of Eregion looked directly into Fagosh's eyes and in a disapprovingly tone said, "you stole my card".

Completely confused by the false accusation, Fagosh managed to reply, "no, I did not. How could I? You have been here with me the whole time".

"Then why is it in your left pocket?", the lord said and pointed an accusing finger at the pocket in question.

Fagosh tried to stick his hand down into his pocket, and sure enough, there was something that he knew had not been there earlier. When he pulled the object out, he could see that it was indeed a playing card, and upon further inspection, he noted that it was indeed his ten of clubs.

"Wait, but, how?", Fagosh asked confused, "did you just use magic to place the card in my pocket, and how did you even get it out of the deck? I watched you the whole time".

"Well, I did ask you if you wanted to see a magic trick, "the lord of Eregion said with a huge grin on his face, "but I will give you this: if you figure out how I did it, and have still not figured out an answer to our previous discussion, then I will give you another clue once you show me how I did this".

His mysterious and unenlightening answer had left Fagosh deep in thought, so the old man simply looked down at his last slice of apple, before he with a frown ate it in two bites.

This managed to drag Fagosh enough out of his contemplations about secret use of magic teleportation, to ask him, "why do you dislike apples, and yet eat them?"

"I like apples well enough", the lord of Eregion said, before he stood up from his chair, "I would just have preferred them as an apple pie, but unfortunately, I am out of honey, which brings to mind why I originally went here. I will be leaving for a couple of weeks to do some business in Teirm, and then a political meeting at court in Gilead, so I will need you and your master to make sure that no new ones tries to enter before I return. The shrrgs do not take kindly to strangers if I am not there".

"I will make sure to let my master know", Fagosh said to the retreating form, before silently adding to himself, "good, now I can investigate his quarters without fear of interference".

**A week later**  
A week had gone by with the owner of the place absent, but despite his best efforts, Fagosh had yet to find anything incriminating in the man's personal chambers or in his office. Fagosh had told his master about what had happened during breakfast, and asked if he could figure out what the old man had meant or how he had done it, but his master had said that he knew not, but if an idea came to him, then he would let him know.

His master had also reminded him that this was supposed to be Fagosh's mission, so he would not actively search into the how and what, but merely let him know if an idea suddenly sprang to mind.

Fagosh was just about to go and begin his examination of the old man's study, which he estimated would take no more than a day, unlike the bedroom, which he had spent four days in, then two in his office, and finally one checking the hallway.

Upon entering, Fagosh noticed that the room was approximately the same size as the office, although the office had had shelves filled with various papers on food supply, projected harvest for the next season, along with changes that needed to be done, different financial projects in Teirm, where the old man apparently had been investing money for years without anyone's knowledge, and finally a budget for the past five years, along with a projected budget for the next five years.

Here in the study, it seemed that the decorator had intended for the atmosphere to be more relaxed, as the solid wooden chair from the office had been replaced with a soft plush one, while the worktable had been transformed to a smaller lower table, where Fagosh spotted a crystal glass on a tray, which also had a crystal decanter filled with a red liquid on it.

The places, for where things were, had changed as well, because the chair now stood close to and facing the fireplace, while the table stood next to the chair. The shelves in here were not lined with any of the rare or factual books that Fagosh had expected them to be, but rather with all kinds of folktales, children stories, myths and legends from all across Alagaësia.

Fagosh had only heard of a few of them, as most where either from the wandering tribes, the people in the Empire and Surda, or from the dwarves, although a single one or two elven books of legends were there as well.

_Seems like the old-two-leg has a taste for mythical tales_, Hakotha said inside Fagosh's head.

_Seems that way_, Fagosh replied, while he opened the decanter and took a sniff, _and wine, if I am not mistaken_.

After searching through the books for another couple of hours, along with turning the entire room upside down, Fagosh was about to finally call it quits and admit that either had the old man no magical talents whatsoever, or else he was simply too good at hiding them.

It was then, when Fagosh was about to leave the room, that he really noted that the fireplace looked different from the others as well. On top of the fireplace, there was a dragon carved in stone. It stood on its hind legs, facing out from the fireplace, while its wings were spread and its jaw agape. Neither the fireplace in his office, nor the one in the bedroom had had any such decorations.

It was not that Fagosh expected something to be hidden on the dragon, as he had already checked behind it, but now that he really looked at it, he was amazed at just how life-like it looked. Even the tiniest and most inconsequential details had not been removed from it, in fact, if Fagosh did not know any better, he would say that it was an actual petrified dragon hatchling.

The more Fagosh studied it, the more he came to realize that it actually sort of reminded him of Hakotha. It had the same head structure, although this one's was a slightly sharper triangular shape than Hakotha's, and more and more similarities seemed to just pop up.

At a random thought, probably a combination of the life-likeness and the similarity to Hakotha of the small dragon statue, Fagosh extended his hand and with a single finger, began to scratch it at that special place, where he knew that only Hakotha liked to be scratched as well.

The moment he touched the spot, a crack could be heard from the side of the fireplace, and before long, a door, just like the ones in the secret tunnels all around the place, had opened beside the fireplace.

_A secret doorway, huh? I wonder what you are hiding in there_, Fagosh thought to himself, as he began to enter the doorway.

The doorway soon transformed into a downwards round stairway, which after reaching the bottom of, Fagosh estimated had just lead him from the fourth floor to at least one floor below the ground.

In front of Fagosh was another tunnel, which were again lit by the dwarven torches, and at the end of that tunnel, there was a solid iron door, which could easily have previously belonged to a royal vault.

_Now we are getting somewhere_, Fagosh thought to himself and Hakotha, while he opened the door by using all of his strength to pry it open, but he received no reply from Hakotha, so he guessed that he had gone too far down for the dragon to be able to reach him, _there is no way that that old man could open this door by himself_.

Once open, Fagosh quickly entered it and in there, he found a room, which resembled the museum part so much, that if Fagosh had not known that he was several metres below the ground, and that the museum had no such doors in it, he could have sworn that they were the same, only this one looked slightly bigger.

As Fagosh walked through the pedestals, he noted that, although he never had spent much time in the museum, he could still recognize quite a few objects in here, but there were also objects that he was completely sure did not appear in the museum upstairs.

_Why should I? The objects would quickly be back on display again_, resounded the lord of Eregion's voice inside Fagosh's head, alongside an explanation for how he managed to put the card in Fagosh's pocket.

_Two cards!_, Fagosh realized with a sudden jolt of excitement, _he had two cards! He must have planted the first one on me, when he reached for the napkin. Then he somehow forced me to take a specific card, which he then simply let be shuffled into the deck, while he then showed me the false one in my pocket. So that is why he does not fear robbers; none of those items upstairs are actually real, but merely fakes_.

While Fagosh contemplated this, he did not hear the other set of footprints near him, until a hand touched his shoulder, which made him jolt with surprise and instantly reach for his sword.

It was first when the voice of his master said, "calm damn boy, it is just me. Your dragon contacted me to make sure that you were all right down here", that he relaxed again and removed his hand from the handle of his half-drawn sword, "so, what do we have down here, hmm? A secret second museum with the same articles as the one further up? How clever of him to use this kind of security".

"It is not all of these that are also in the museum further up, master", Fagosh said and pointed towards a few pedestals that he had noticed were definitely not in the one further up, "on these are what appears to be a dragon scale, although it seems to be completely translucent, while it has a smaller multi-coloured piece lying next to it, and on the other pedestal is what I believe to be the egg shells of the same dragon as the one that provided the scale".

"Hmm, fascinating", Jörkmund said, as he studied the objects closer, "I only know of one living dragon that these could have come from, but no one has heard anything from him for the past four decades".

"You believe that this old man somehow managed to trick Kilgharrah-elda into giving him one of his scales, along with his egg shells?", Fagosh asked, already feeling the urge to do something unspeakable to the lord of Eregion, the next time he saw him.

"I doubt that anyone could ever trick that dragon into doing anything that he does not want. He has, for as long as I have known him, been a far better haggler, and much better at seeing through other's deception, than most people I have ever met. Besides, from what I know of history, his egg shells were supposed to have been buried some place hidden, so that no one would know of him at the time", Jörkmund said, while he poked at the glass box, which were around each and every one of the pedestals, "but I remember Glaedr-elda telling me that he was not the first dragon to have such scales, so it is possible that these are not even his".

"But why would the old man not display them in the museum like the rest?", Fagosh asked confused, "these alone would be worth more than everything else that he has shown up there".

"Who knows", Jörkmund said, before he began to move on to another pedestal, "perhaps he found that he could not replicate these, like he did the others, and would rather have them locked up down here than possibly stolen from up there, or perhaps there is some other reason. Come; let us see what else is down here".

They continued their journey through the museum for quite a while longer, where they among other things found: a collection of books that neither of them had ever heard of, nor had they ever heard of their writer; J. R. R. Tolkien, a book on some country called: Feudal Japan, which neither of them had heard about either. Then there were a few artefacts and tokens, which Jörkmund recognized as being from the Shadow War, then a book by the infamous Mercury Iridium, which had been dubbed: Passing on, a first-hand experience of what to come when one dies, and the possible explanations to these experiences.

They had both been quite astounded by this book, not so much for how the lord of Eregion had gotten his hands on it, as they were already aware that he had been personally trained and had inherited everything from Mercury Iridium, but more because of its title and the fact that it had never been published, despite its quite ground-breaking potential to shed light on what happens when you die.

"How do you think that he managed to acquire all of this, and why has he kept so much of it hidden down here, despite their relative easy potential to be replicated?", Fagosh asked his master, as they continued down the rows.

"I honestly do not know", Jörkmund replied thoughtfully, "from what we have seen so far, I would only be mildly surprised if Naegling showed up somewhere in here".

They both stopped when they saw the next display case, for this one was far larger than the rest had been. In it a mannequin had been dressed in a complete set of black leather armour, along with a dark cloak and hood, the armour had an intricate and treelike silvery threading on its torso and bracers. Sticking out from its bracers were two half a metre steel blades, and across the mannequin's back was an unmistakable sword that could only belong to one person.

"This is the Shadow's armour", Fagosh said, while his mouth hung loosely.

"No, this is a replica of that armour, and nor are the weapons real", came a threatening voice from directly behind them.

Fagosh and Jörkmund both turned around as fast as they could with their swords already half-drawn, until they recognized the form of the Lord of Eregion standing directly behind them. Except that it certainly did not seem like the same man, as they had just spent two months with, which was an odd thing for Fagosh to comprehend, as his features had remained exactly the same, and the only change in clothes was the addition of a heavy grey travelling cloak to his robes.

No, there was definitely something different about this person, than the one they knew. For example, he did not even look like he needed the cane in his left hand the slightest to help him stand, and his back was taller and straighter too. Gone were many of the facial features that spoke of tiredness and old age, and in their place was a calculating and deadly expression.

Somehow, just from that one expression, Fagosh knew that running through the old man's head was whether he would be able to kill these two dragon riders, and if he could, then how to get away with it, but his eyes remained as cold and lifeless as ever.

Jörkmund must have sensed it as well, for in the next instance, he angrily shouted, "who are you!", which to Fagosh signalled that things had just escalated way out of what could be expected from a dragon rider's first mission.

"I am no one and many different ones at the same time", the old, no definitely not as old as Fagosh had first believed him to be, man said, "I go by many names, yet I have none anymore. Now answer me! How did you manage to breach this vault?! My PERSONAL vault!"

"Fagosh, NOW!", Jörkmund shouted, and Fagosh knew exactly what he meant to do, as he quickly joined with him in a mental attack on the lord's mind.

Fagosh had to admit that even though they were two fully trained dragon rides, and in Jörkmund's case with almost a century and a half of experience, then this guy somehow managed to hold his own against their attacks. His defences were among the best that Fagosh had ever encountered, but judging from his lack of an offense, he either could not perform such a thing, or he had already deemed it a lost cause and instead chosen to focus on defence.

The mental battle raged for quite a while, Fagosh knew that if he had not had Jörkmund with him, then he might have been able to try and pry the man's head open from now and until the earth was no more without any further success, but with Jörkmund here, there at least was some slight progress.

Finally, after what seemed like hours upon hours of mental struggle, they finally broke through the man's last defence and were immediately assaulted by memories. While Jörkmund continued to paralyze the man, Fagosh began to dig through the memories.

He was in a strange building filled with other kids, probably an orphanage, and his headmistress had just told him something that made him want to bury himself, along with his name in the ground. _What was that name?_

Before Fagosh could concentrate on the name, another memory assaulted him. He was now walking close by, what Fagosh recognized as, the Âz Ragni. The season seemed to be early winter, because a chill was in the air that made his breath freeze. Above him sailed a majestic although slightly small, _probably no more than a few months old_, yellow dragon, although this for some reason made him angry.

Now he was negotiating with a dwarven shepherd about his herd of feldûnost, the dwarf was unwilling to let him buy them, so he flashed something on his right hand to the dwarf, which quickly changed the dwarf's attitude.

The scene then changed to another strange building filled with kids on chairs near tables. While everyone else were reading what he had already read, he was depicting a way to punish some other kid that had been mean to him, without there being a single shred of evidence that could connect him to the event.

Now he was dumping some bandits' bodies in a lake, and then came a few scenes of this place while it was being constructed. Next he was in a dark cathedral of some sort, but the roof seemed to be crashing down around him, yet he had to get his precious bundle to safety.

Now the memories began to go faster and faster, for next came him stabbing some fellow guard in the back, torturing someone on a kitchen table with a fork, having a merry drink with a young King Orik, _wait King Orik?_, burning down half a castle, the sensation of falling to your death from a tower in Feinster, cutting off the leg of an imperial soldier in Urû'baen while a great battle raged him, travelling on horse next to Queen Islanzadi, _how many royalties have this guy met?_, seeing a young Saphira for the first time, the sensation of truly dying, escaping some mages from the mage's order in a small village, waking up stranded on a rock cliff with no way down or off of it, dancing with a young girl with violet eyes and a silver star on her forehead, and finally walking past a man-sized mirror, where he caught a glimpse of himself in his personal black leather armour with its dark hood and cape, along with the new additions on its torso and bracers, before his gaze wandered to his own silvery eyes, which looked completely frightening, like a demon had spawned and taken human form, except for its eyes.

At this point, Fagosh could take no more, and decided to pull out completely, which was quickly followed by Jörkmund. Fagosh then stumbled down on his knees, before he threw up on the floor.

"What is wrong, Fagosh? What did you see?", Jörkmund shouted concerned from beside him, and in his peripheral vision, Fagosh noted that their opponent had crumbled in on himself on the floor as well, only he was not moving and only unsteadily breathing.

"Barzul, what did you do to him?!", Jörkmund shouted towards the still form lying on the floor opposite from them, which barely reacted at all.

"Noth- nothing", Fagosh managed to mumble out, "memories too intense. Could not slow down", Fagosh now managed to clasp onto the shirt of Jörkmund with his hand, which made Jörkmund look directly into Fagosh's eyes, as Fagosh finally said, "he- he not disciple of silver-eyes. He IS silver-eyes", before he lost consciousness.


	9. Winter is coming

In case any of you are also wondering about whether something is actually going to happen in this story or whether it will just be Mercury sitting in his castle, I say this:**  
**"I pity them"  
"Why?"  
"Because it won't last. Because they are the knights of summer and winter is coming"

* * *

**Winter is coming  
**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Monday of the 12****th**** week of 79 ADG  
**I have come to refer to the times, when I lose touch with reality and blackout, as incidents, and so far the numbers of incidents have increased since that first one. My guards have become better at spotting when I am in one, restraining me and then keeping me out of the public eye, but it unfortunately has not gone completely unnoticed by some of the elven lords and ladies.

Several of them has advocated for my immediate expulsion from Ellesméra, but Islanzadi has managed to keep them in check and remind them that elves should be seen as willing to help all of those in need of aid. I feel sorry for having to have Islanzadi put up with me in my current condition, as I know that she is losing support from parts of her council because of this.

I have further more finally acknowledged that I am fighting a losing battle in this, and have subsequently begun to search the library for anything that might help my condition, but has as of yet been unsuccessful.

**Mercury POV  
**It had now been almost 50 years since Mercury's run-in with Fagosh and Jörkmund. 50 years of constantly living the life of the lord of Eregion, an act that he had not faltered in for so long that it had become closer to reality than what he once viewed as his own personality.

The mind-shattering experience by Jörkmund and Fagosh had left Mercury comatose for almost an entire day after that, while Fagosh had been up and about again after just a few hours.

When Mercury had finally woken up, he had not been surprised that he had been chained to a chair, while constantly being under guard by at least one of the two dragon riders. What had followed next turned out to be an extremely embarrassing day of questioning for Mercury, where he had constantly tried to either give as little information as possible, or give some information that would lead to a wrong conclusion.

It would probably have continued for at least another day, if Jörkmund had not suggested that they contact Eragon for further instructions. That conversation had proven to be both amusing and deeply annoying for Mercury.

Amusing in the fact that the two dragon riders had had to acknowledge that not only had the lead rider known about Mercury's survival, but he had even allowed him to run free for four decades without ever trying to contact or check up on him, but annoying because now, there could be no such clemency any more.

During the conversation with the lead rider, Mercury had been full aware that his current situation would need to change, either for the worse or the much worse. After much deliberation and negotiation, it had finally been decided that in order to appease the High King, the dragon riders would set up a permanent guard of a single dragon rider to live in Nolondil, although none of the dragon riders assigned would be given details about Mercury's magic or his identity.

To the king, the guard would be explained as the dragon riders making sure that the situation had been contained, although they never explicitly told him who Mercury was or even that he had magic. To the general public, along with everyone but the three dragon riders present, the arrangement had been made to look like Mercury had graciously allowed the dragon riders to use Nolondil as an outpost.

Mercury had been loath to agree on the deal, but would much rather have this, than a bunch of mage's order mages breathing down his neck, so he had had to play the part and accept the deal, which also involved him having to build another section to the dragon hold, as he still wanted the capacity to accommodate at least three visiting riders at any given time.

After that matter had been settled and everything had begun to calm down, more visitors had begun to arrive. They were quite few and far in between at first, but eventually through the years, they had begun to come at a more steady interval and in greater numbers.

Mercury knew that the process would probably have gone much slower, if it had not been because of the outpost-deal that he had made, so after some time, he had even begun to realize that it had probably been for the best anyways. After all, he really had not made the best of first impressions on the king and the general populace, and this had ensured a sense of security for everyone involved.

It had taken a few years, where Mercury had only ever left Nolondil to go to important business meetings and answer to the political court at Gilead, before Mercury had finally realized that the dragon riders stationed in Nolondil did not consider themselves as guards in his own personal prison.

Once that had finally sunk in, Mercury had again begun to more freely wander Alagaësia, although he made sure to never stay away for more than a month or two at a time. His original outings had purely been directed at just visiting places all over Alagaësia, like the floating crystal of Eoam, or trying to climb the mountain Utgard in an effort to reach the old dragon rider outpost there, and although Kilgharrah had flown near him the entire time, all the while taunting him and tempting him with offers that he could just fly up there with him, he had been resolute to do it the mundane way.

After about a decade of these adventures, which soon began to grow more and more dangerous and preposterous, Mercury finally gave up on them and decided to focus completely on his library again. This lasted for only about two years, before a new passion appeared; archaeology.

Well, not archaeology in its most literal context, but rather something closer to treasure hunting. Mercury would never ever sell anything that he found; no, he would always store them safely in his vault, while he began to make a replica of it, which would then suddenly just appear in the museum at one dawn.

The regular visitors had begun to learn that the lord of Eregion did not care for grand openings for new prizes, nor did he wish for any welcoming celebrations, when he returned from a long trip. No, they had learned that, except for telling the current dragon rider occupant a day or two in advance, he might be having a discussion with someone at dusk one day and then be gone at dawn the next, while the same applied for when he returned again.

His latest, and still on-going, project in 'archaeology' had originally started out as him reading a tale about how the humans had first arrived in Alagaësia, and how their first king, Palancar, had been dethroned. Mercury had then begun to wonder about what exactly had happened to the old king Palancar's crown, as he knew that the one that Galbatorix had used had been from the Brodding kingdom.

This had quickly turned into his new primary way of spending his free time, as it had proven quite difficult to track anything down from that era. Mercury had in fact mostly been forced to rely on subtle hints and suggestions in myths and legends, as his primary source of information, which had more often than not turned into a waste of his time and gold.

One of his very first real leads in this, although it could hardly be called a true lead, had been that he had begun to look into the more detailed dwarven descriptions of what had happened at that time. These texts had then lead Mercury to believe that when the Hadarac desert dried out, not all the dwarves ventured south to the Beor mountains, but that some probably ventured west to the Spine and set up underground cities there.

It was Mercury's belief that once the humans settled in Alagaësia, the primary trade and exchange between the two folk had been in and near these cities, which was where he had hoped that the crown of Palancar had ended up, as all of his other leads had turned up dead.

Mercury had already launched more than several dozen expeditions into the Spine, and although most of them had been completely fruitless, a few had born some kind of fruit, as he had met with some of the wandering urgal tribes, who had told him the location of a very deep cave, which was only accessible during a few short months in the fall, as it would be completely snowed shut in the winter, while being submerged by said smelted snow during spring and summer.

Further investigations into this cave had uncovered that it was not just a single long deep cave, but actually an entire network of caves, which Mercury had now spent almost 20 years exploring in the fall of every year, but had still not found the crown that was to be his masterpiece in the collection, although he had found some disturbing scriptures down there about said crown, but although he had made preparations for the eventuality that the scriptures were true, he had not entirely given up on finding it in those hidden dwarven cities.

In other uninteresting news, a shade been sighted almost two decades ago; the first shade to walk Alagaësian soil in almost two centuries. Although the shade had been at large for almost two decades, no one had yet managed to capture, kill or even find the damn thing.

So far, the shade had only struck some smaller unprotected and isolated villages, but this had not deterred the government, or the dragon riders, from launching full scale search parties for it, although they had all turned out empty.

Mercury had, from his position as a noble at the Gilead court, learned that even the secret agents of the Empire were combing the countryside for it. Some had come pretty close to finding it too, as evidenced by the dead bodies of said agents, but no dragon riders had ever come that close to finding it.

The matter did not concern Mercury all that much, hell, he barely ever gave it a thought, as he from experience knew that nothing and no one could remain hidden forever, so the dragon riders would eventually learn of the shade's whereabouts, find its lair and then kill it.

It was not like he had anything to fear while he was inside or near Nolondil, as the shade had only attacked small unprotected villages, while his home did not only have large walls, a contingent of more than 25 fully grown shrrgs, and at least one dragon and its rider at any given time.

In fact, due to the threat of the shade, Nolondil had even been declared as the safe refuge site for all villages extending from Utgard, then following the most western part of the Ninor river down to Fläm lake, where the urgals were ruling from.

This new status had also meant that Mercury had had to expand his storage facilities considerably, as well as constantly having enough food, blankets, bed rolls, tents and other such items stockpiled, so that he was ready to receive up to a thousand refugees at any given time.

He had of course been compensated for this by the Gilead court, but that did not mean that it was not infuriating to have to constantly have to throw out rotten food and buy new. These days, a supply train filled with food and other stuff would literally roll up the mountain road at least once a month.

It was not that Mercury did not understand why his place had been chosen, after all Nolondil was not only the only even remotely fortified spot in the entire region, along with it having its very own lake for a water supply, enough space to house thousands of tents, and it always had an, although quite irregular, defence force stationed there that could easily be supplemented by the local town militias of the refugees, and it was not that Mercury would not accept any refugees that came knocking on his doors, although he really did not have much of a choice, as it had been a direct decree by Gilead, but it was still infuriating to have this constant annoyance of more paper work, and even more administrative work, which severely cut into his spare time.

Mercury was even beginning to question whether he would have the spare time this year to go on his annual trip to further search the catacombs of the dwarven cities in the Spine. A tradition that had otherwise been unbroken for 16 years in a row now.

_Perhaps I should just hire an assistant to take care of the these matters_, Mercury mused to himself, while sorting out paperwork and making drafts for his next supply trains in his office, _no, that would mean that he would need to have access to my financial books as well, and I do still prefer to keep my investments in Teirm, along with that other project in Narda, hidden. It is bad enough that I have had to hire people to empty the supply trains, check up on my storages and throw everything rotten out, as I always intended this place to be just a one-man operation_.

Sighing for what seemed to be the seventh time since this morning, despite it being only early midday; Mercury reached out and grabbed the next report from the stack on his right side of the desk, which was way higher than Mercury's head, even when he was standing up. Mercury had arranged his work space so that the unfinished reports for today were on the right side of the desk, the finished were in the pitiful low stack on the left side of the desk, which only served to remind Mercury of how much more he needed to do today, while everything that did not need to be done today had been categorized by importance and topic, and then laid into the corresponding folder.

_What! There have been spotted severe mould attacks on the tents?,_ Mercury thought, while being dangerously close to pressing his pen through his right temple, _I thought that I told them to take the tents out at least once a month, so that they could dry, and the moisture forming in the storage would vaporize. Now I have to replace almost a third of the tents. Heads are definitely going to roll for this_.

Already reaching for the list of supplies that he would need to order with the supply train in three months, while simultaneously thinking about how fast he could recruit new people down at Norigo, Mercury did not hear the knock at the door.

It was only after the person apparently got tired of waiting for his request to be answered and knocked again, that Mercury noticed it and replied with a simple, "enter".

The door quickly opened and inside stepped a figure, which Mercury had only rarely spoken to during the last five decades; Fagosh the Grey, who upon a quick hand signal from Mercury, who did not even look up once from the scroll that he was reading and editing, sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk from Mercury.

Fagosh had matured quite a lot since Mercury had first seen him. Not in the physical sense of the word, as he looked almost exactly the same, except for the heavy grey travelling cloak that he always wore, and hence had been named after, but if you looked at his posture and noted his eyes, then you would see someone far more confidant, self-assured and wiser than he had been, when he first stepped foot in Nolondil.

Five decades ago, Fagosh would probably have tried to say something to Mercury, or otherwise let him know that he was even there, but now he simply waited patiently, while absentmindedly running his eyes across the office.

Finally finished with the scroll, Mercury put it back to the pile on the left side of the desk, before he put his pen into its holder and finally looked up at Fagosh, before he said, "would you like some refreshments? I have a little tea left in the pot, and some biscuits in the drawer, but if you would like something stronger, then I have that as well".

"Just tea will be fine, unless you still have those butterscotch biscuits that you had the last time I was here", Fagosh replied, "unless of course it is too much of an inconvenience to you".

"Not at all, I could use a break right about now", Mercury answered, as he pulled out a mug from his desk, which he quickly handed to Fagosh, before he poured some tea into it, along with filling his own already half-filled cup, "now where did I put those biscuits?... Arhh, now I remember; under the latest legislation from Gilead".

Fagosh took one of the biscuits from the plate, which was now situated directly between them, and took an experimental bite, before he exclaimed, "it tastes exactly the same as the ones that you gave me all those years ago. How do you do it?"

"Merely a manner of using a standardized amount of the ingredients in every batch", Mercury replied with a wave of his hand, before he also took one from the plate and took a bite of it, "but I guess that you did not come all the way out here for the biscuits' sake, so tell me, what does the order wish to discuss that could not go through Nari?"

Nari was a dwarven dragon rider, and the current guard at Nolondil, although he apparently had been sent there as a sort of punishment for a rash decision that had claimed the lives of those that he had been tasked with protecting.

"I am sure that you have heard of the shade running rampart through the countryside?", Fagosh said, which made Mercury merely gesture towards the two stacks on his desk, while saying, "yes, I have heard slightly of it".

"Have you received the latest imperial report yet?", Fagosh asked.

"No, I am scheduled to be in Gilead in three weeks to go over any new developments, along with the rest of the nobles from the Gilead province", Mercury said, "why? What has happened?"

"Some imperial agents managed to track the shade down to a coastal village between Teirm and Narda. They only just managed to get a message back to Teirm, before all contact was lost with them", Fagosh said dejectedly, before sipping his tea.

"Any survivors?", Mercury asked, as he took another bite of his biscuit, "and why should this concern me? That village belongs under the Teirm refuge area, and it is hardly the first time that the shade has attacked a coastal village".

"There were no survivors, and no, it is hardly the first time that that has happened, but this time was different", Fagosh said with a sigh, "this village was not just some backwater collection of shacks and huts. They had their own militia, and a stone wall around them to ward off any attackers, but that is not the most troubling part", at this he paused, before Mercury's gestures to move on got him to continue, "included in the message from the agents were information that it had brought an army with it this time. An army!"

"It has an army?" Mercury asked unconvinced, as it was a rather preposterous claim to make, "a SHADE has managed to convince people to actually join up with it?"

"We are unsure of whether they do so willingly, or if they are being controlled, like the urgalgra by Durza", Fagosh replied.

"But still, an army?", Mercury continued in an exasperated voice, "even if it controlled the actual warriors, then it would also need lodgings for them, food for them, cloths and armour for them, not to mention that all of this would need to be bought from under the nose of an Empire that is currently searching with all of its assets for said shade. I believe that I know a little about having to maintain the supplies for quite some people", at this Mercury again gestured towards the stacks of paper, "and I find it very difficult to believe that you can equip and maintain a force consisting of more than 50 soldiers at one place, before someone would begin to notice".

Fagosh merely smiled at this, which made Mercury calm down, before he said in a level voice, "that is exactly why I believe that we need you to help us locate the shade. You are excellent at tracking and hunting targets, and if even a few of the stories from the Shadow War are true, then this should hardly be the most challenging thing that you have tracked. You are of course not required to actually kill the shade, but merely to assist in the discovery of its lair".

Mercury completely stopped speaking at this, then he took a moment to take in everything that Fagosh had just said, before he began to study Fagosh's facial expression for a little while. Fagosh's expression was one of barely concealed excitement, it had probably been his idea to recruit Mercury for this, but Mercury doubted that anything official had been discussed with anyone, else he would probably have been flown off to Ilirea to start getting an idea of the landscape from there already.

Mercury took a deep breath, before he in deep voice said, "why me?"

Fagosh looked confused for a while, before he collected himself and said, "you are the obvious choice! You managed to bring the Black Hand to its knees; a feat that not even the combined efforts of the Empire and Surda could manage, while simultaneously alluding both the mage's order and the agents of the Empire and Surda. You have more experience in that field than any person alive. Barzul, you built this entire place", at this Fagosh gestured around with his arms, "without anyone ever noticing what you were doing. THAT is why I ask this of you".

"Everything that you have just mentioned, except for the part about Nolondil, is not something that I did. It was the efforts of a person, who no longer exists", Mercury calmly but firmly stated, "HIS actions may have been worthy of that praise, but I have no more experience in tracking someone than the imperial agents that we have already lost so many of, less even".

"You talk as if there are two individuals, when both of them belongs to you?", Fagosh asked confused.

"You ought to know why I say this!", Mercury shouted, " You had a pretty decent look into my mind 50 years ago!"

"Your memories were incoherent and confusing, and I was only a novice rider at the time. I understood only a small fraction of what was shown, and even less of what time period it was from", Fagosh said in a low voice, and with his eyes downcast.

"Then let me spell it out for you!", Mercury shouted, "I REMEMBER NOTHING! My entire memory of that time is gone, removed, and not a single shred of it remains!"

"So you will not help us in the search?", Fagosh said in a calming tone.

Mercury took a deep breath, reined in his emotions, and exhaled loudly, before saying in a firm but also slightly irritated voice, "I will continue to let Nolondil be used as a refugee site and a possible stronghold for the region, but I will not become further involved in this".

"Why?", Fagosh said in a dejected voice, while his facial features dropped to those of confusion and slight pity. Oh, how Mercury hated when people pitied him, but he would keep his emotions in check.

"I have retired from the world", Mercury stated, "it has not been easy, but I have managed to do so through determination and hard work. If I join with you on this venture, even though I would be no better than any of those who actually have training and experience, then my retirement would forever be over, and I fear what would happen then".

"I see that I cannot change your mind then", Fagosh said, while he began to stand up, "thank you for the tea and the biscuit, but before I leave you, I have one final question: Are you truly happy here, living this life of a lie?"

Mercury looked up from his desk and met Fagosh's yellow eyes, before he in a firm voice said, "I am…content here".

"Then I bid you farewell", Fagosh said with a small nod of his head, before he left the room.


	10. Scorched earth

Merry Christmas to all. Unfortunately this is not exactly much of a christmas themed chapter, but in my defence, it was writtten well over 2 months ago, so I never realized that this would be posted on Christmas. Although the next chapter kind of fits the theme of New Years, as we will say goodbye to some recurring objects in my story until now, along with the current story arc, and hello to new things.

Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

**Scorched earth**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Tuesday of the 23****rd**** week of 79 ADG  
**Eureka! Today I found a way to forever silence these dreams. It is in the form of a spell, a quite ancient one at that, but it requires a few items to be collected and gathered into a single object, so I must now use quite a bit of my fortune to pay some elves to locate these, as I do not believe that I would be able to do so myself in my current condition.

There are a few other things that I must attend to as well, but most of those are proper pronunciation and then the task of finding a strong memory as a starting point, as without one, the spell would affect my entire memory, instead of just from that starting point and then until now.

I know that it is quite a desperate measure to take, but I feel like I have no other choice than to do this, because I cannot live on like this and I cannot divulge what I know in a therapy session.

**Kilgharrah POV  
**Kilgharrah was just returning from a hunting trip in the most northern parts of the Spine. He had quickly found that hunting was no real challenge in Eregion, so he had begun searching for more challenging places to hunt.

The northern part of the Spine, the part that did not appear on any two-leg-maps, had proven to be much more challenging to hunt in. Not only were the prey much scarcer, but the creatures there had adapted to the state of constant frost and snow that dominated these parts of the Spine all year round.

All prey and all predators there, even the little long-ears-many-hatchling-breeders, had white fur that made them almost undetectable in the snow. This made hunting so much more enjoyable than simply having to hunt the easy four-leg-antlers.

Kilgharrah had even taken Mercury-foster-partner along for one of these trips at one time, when he had really been down. Not that he had openly showed it, but Kilgharrah knew him well enough to see it. Well, when Kilgharrah said that he had taken Mercury-foster-partner along, he really meant that he had informed the dragon-guard-rider a day in advance, before he simply snatched Mercury-foster-partner up in his claws and went on the trip.

Despite the impromptu departure, Mercury-foster-partner had seemed to really enjoy the trip, and Kilgharrah had liked that. Although he had not thought about it, he had still snatched Mercury-foster-partner up with only the clothes that he wore at the time, which resulted in Mercury-foster-partner having to share his inner-fire to stay warm at nights.

That had brought back some happy memories of back when Kilgharrah had been little more than a hatchling, while Mercury-foster-partner had kept him warm in much the same way in the giant-Beor-mountains.

As Kilgharrah sailed on the winds-from-sea, he thought about how Mercury-foster-partner had been more down in the last couple of months than he had been in most recent years. It had all started after that meeting with Fagosh-partner-of-Hakotha-hatchling.

Kilgharrah had not listened in on the meeting, but he could guess what it had been about, and his guesses had been confirmed when he had talked to Mercury-foster-partner later that week.

_How dare they put such a burden on Mercury-foster-partner's shoulder_, Kilgharrah angrily thought, while he snapped at a bird flying nearby, _even knowing how much he sacrificed, so that they could have peace, they still want more from him. Do they not know how much he has had to endure to remain in his peaceful life? Do they not know that simply by asking him to help, they have already put much of the burden on his shoulders, for if he were to deny their request, then he would have to live with the knowledge that he might have made a difference, but chose to refuse to_.

Kilgharrah continued to pout for a few moments, occasionally spouting flames at nearby fowl, before he reined his anger in again, _no, it is not Fagosh-partner-of-Hakotha-hatchling's fault. He was simply desperate to find a solution to the problem, and thought that an ideal one had presented itself_.

Kilgharrah felt proud of himself for being so wise, as to be able to forgive those that had caused such worry to Mercury-foster-partner, although he imagined that Mercury-foster-partner had never even born any grudge against them. He probably felt that he would have tried to do the same if he had been in their situation.

_Perhaps I should bring him on another trip north_, Kilgharrah mused to himself, _it might take his mind off of his own cancelled-delayed-sabotaged trip to old-abandoned-little-two-leg-city. This time, I should probably try to pick him up when he is at least wearing more appropriate warm-woollen-clothes_.

His thoughts were however soon redirected from that topic, when he flew over a white-snow-mountain-tip. The majestic sight was something that Kilgharrah never got bored of looking at; all it really needed to be complete was Mercury-foster-partner climbing up the side of it.

Kilgharrah would never admit this to Mercury-foster-partner, but when he watched him climb up Utgard-sorrow-place, even despite Kilgharrah's continued taunting and baiting him about just letting him ride up with him, Kilgharrah could not help but feel proud that this was the person that had raised him. His Mercury-foster-partner had, without any magic-energy-changing or help from anyone else, climbed the mountain that had previously been named Edoc'sil, unconquerable, because its sides had supposedly been too steep to climb.

Not that anyone ever knew that he had done so. No, Mercury-foster-partner had never cared for any such admiration from those around him, he had simply done it because he wanted to see whether he could. Besides, it would hardly be fitting for a supposed old cripple to be seen climbing a mountain that was supposedly too steep for anyone else to climb.

Speaking of the old cripple, Kilgharrah had to wonder when exactly Mercury-foster-partner would fake his own death, and then set up a younger persona to take over. Kilgharrah knew that it had to be within the coming years, as he knew that even know, Mercury-foster-partner was bordering on what could be considered still human, not even taking into account his surprising vitality for a man his age.

Kilgharrah knew that Mercury-foster-partner had planned on doing this at least once a century, when he had first negotiated with two-leg-high-king about the deed. It was why he had implemented the rules about succession to his noble house, so that he would be able to continually set up new identities that could take over from the previous. All he really needed to do was to write into his will that this person would inherit everything, and then he could start over again.

_I wonder what eye-colour he chooses this time_, Kilgharrah mused, while he pushed a little snow off a passing tip with his paw, _if I know him right, he will probably just take a green one, and then a red one after that, then perhaps a brown one…or perhaps he would choose grey again at this point?_

Kilgharrah had always felt like Mercury-foster-partner's constant ability to change eye-colour, along with his own ability to change the colour of his scales, had given them some extra sort of bond; despite his slight sadness that Mercury-foster-partner had had to cover up his real eyes.

But then again, that was another similarity between them, for as Mercury-foster-partner had shown him, his own scales were naturally as clear as a diamond, but no one could ever see that while they were still on him. Mercury-foster-partner had only been able to show him with a scale that had fallen off, which he had then granted Mercury-foster-partner permission to dissect.

_I wonder whether that scale is still collecting dust in Mercury-foster-partner's secret-underground-backup-vault_, Kilgharrah mused, _I know that he still keeps my egg-shells there, along with the rest of the things that cannot go on display, so it is quite possible that he also still has that one there_.

Kilgharrah was now nearing Nolondil-home, he only had to fly over the last mountain tip to actually see it, but he could already smell the scent of burnt meat in the air.

_I wonder what he is trying to cook today_, Kilgharrah hungrily thought, he may just have been on a hunting trip, but Mercury-foster-partner's cooking was always something that there was room for, _I bet he has tried to hold a feast with some of the dried-cow-meat that was about to get old_.

Sure enough, once Kilgharrah cleared the mountain top, he could see a plume of smoke from where he knew Nolondil-home would be. Only the plume seemed larger than Kilgharrah would have anticipated from a simple set of bonfires.

Curiously sniffing the air, Kilgharrah soon found several different scents of meat in it. There was veal, feldûnost and…human and shrrg? No, that had to be wrong. The shrrgs knew to avoid fire, and humans would be incredibly stupid to get on their own roasting spikes…unless?

No, that could not be the case. Kilgharrah already mentally scolded himself for even considering such a thing, for surely there could be no way that someone would be able to raze Nolondil-home to the ground. It had not only shrrg guards, a Mercury-foster-partner that had never stopped to keep up his form even once, despite his obvious lack of any actual weapons, and a dragon and her rider.

For someone to go up against all of that, they would not only need an army, but an incredibly powerful group of mages…or a shade. Wait; did Mercury-foster-partner not mention something about the shade gathering an army behind it? Could that, that treacherous-dark-snake-shade, really have done this?

Teeming with rage, nervousness and a tiny bit of…fear, Kilgharrah immediately tripled his pace. It was not long before Nolondil-home truly came into view, or rather what was left of the place.

The planes inside the walls had been set ablaze, while the walls themselves looked like they had been broken down by a giant. The entire dragon hold had already been reduced to a pile of rubble, while the main building had great flames licking up its sides.

All but one of the once so majestic towers had crumbled down on themselves, while what used to be Mercury-foster-partner's personal section of the place had been decimated by the remains of…no, not Rutelia. Surely it had to be something other than Nari-guard-rider's partner of heart and mind, Rutelia, except that it was, and there was nothing Kilgharrah could do for his kin, but let the flames consume her body.

Already feeling a burning desire to kill whatever had done this to his Nolondil-home, Kilgharrah let his eyes wander across the front porch of the main building, where the previously so majestic copper beeches were now slowly turning into nothing more than piles of smouldering embers, but that was not the most infuriating part, because right there, spread around on the ground, lay the remains of his shrrg-pack-mates.

Already from this altitude, Kilgharrah could see that the bodies had been desecrated, but to his satisfaction, around their bodies lay at least three times that number of dark-attacker-men.

Hearing a crack from behind the main building, Kilgharrah twisted in the air to watch as more dark-attacker-men began to drag out the bodies of not only some of the visitors that Kilgharrah had spoken to more than once, but also the body of Nari-guard-rider.

_Defilers! Snake-cursed-wretches!_, Kilgharrah roared with fury, as he descended from the sky in a pure show of force.

The cursed-snake-abominations only managed to just look up in surprise, before a giant crimson-red dragon descended in their midst. Still too shocked to do anything but look surprised, they did not move before Kilgharrah's claws had mangled the bodies of five of the men.

It was then that they seemed to come out of their stupor, and if Kilgharrah had not been teeming with unrivalled rage right now, he would have been impressed by their courage in actually trying to attack him, a majestic-fearsome-dragon.

A quick swipe with the tail cut seven more in half, before he engulfed another 14 in an inferno of crystal flames. It was around this time that the remaining five realized their error and tried to scatter, but Kilgharrah would never allow something like that to happen to those that had defiled his most sacred place and killed his pack-mates, and quite possibly harmed his Mercury-foster-partner.

Two were caught by a quick swipe of his paw, another two suffered the death of his tail, before Kilgharrah pounced on the remaining, like a cat pounces on a mouse, and while holding him down under his paws, he grabbed the man's upper body with his teeth and pulled him in half.

Now that Kilgharrah's claws had turned the same crimson-red colour as his scales, while blood continued to drip down from his maw, he finally let go of some of his bloodlust, if only for the sole reason that could deny his lust for blood over who did this: finding Mercury-foster-partner.

Kilgharrah refused to believe that Mercury-foster-partner could simply be gone like this. No, that could not be, these wretched things should not have been able to even lay a hand on his Mercury-foster-partner. He was smarter than this, he had always kept up his daily training in the event of something like this, and he had magic-energy- changing for something like this. He could not be dead, he simply could not!

Kilgharrah refused to think about how Nari-guard-rider and Rutelia-dragon-kin had had that too, and yet they were dead. No, thinking like that would not help him find Mercury-foster-partner. All he needed to do was to stretch out his mind-soul, and then he would find that familiar touch again, like he always had, for surely Mercury-foster-partner had taken refuge in the woods.

_Yes, he would probably have used one of the tunnels that go far into the woods to get to safety_, Kilgharrah desperately thought.

Kilgharrah then tried to stretch his mind to encompass the entirety of Nolondil, but coming up empty, he tried to stretch it further and further, until he reached his usual limit, but even then, he still tried to stretch it just a little further.

_No, he is not dead. He cannot be dead! Mercury-foster-partner is hiding somewhere_, Kilgharrah frantically thought, although in the back of his mind, a nagging sensation was telling him that he would have to face reality at some point, _yes, he must be hiding in some safe area, where I cannot reach him…the vault!_

Upon his realization, Kilgharrah instantly jumped to the site, where he knew the vault would be located under, and began to dig as fast as he could.

Entire cartfuls of dirt vanished from the ground with each desperate paw strike, and during the entire time that it took to dig a hole down through all five metres of dirt that lay on top of secret-safety-vault, Kilgharrah never once listened to his aching muscles, which desperately pleaded with him to slow his pace and take a break.

Finally reaching the thick stone ceiling of the secret-safety-vault, Kilgharrah immediately stopped his frantic digging. It would not do to discover that Mercury-foster-partner had been alive, only to have been buried beneath the ceiling in Kilgharrah's attempt to rescue him.

_But how to warn him of where I am collapsing the ceiling?_ Kilgharrah mentally asked himself, _if only Mercury-foster-partner was here, he would know the answer right away. Wait, I could roar. Surely he would hear that, even in there, and then he would know of a way to let me know that he had heard me and was clear of falling-ceiling_.

Roaring with all of his might, Kilgharrah became slightly nervous that the dirt would fall down on him and collapse the hole that he had dug, but luckily no such thing happened, although he did see the earth shake quite a lot.

The next moments were the longest in Kilgharrah's life. Each and every second felt like an entire hour to him, but yet nothing happened. After two entire minutes had gone by without any indication of a reply, Kilgharrah decided that Mercury-foster-partner might not have understood the meaning, so he tapped the exposed ceiling with his giant-claws a few times, before he roared again.

No response this time around either. Perhaps he had been mistaken? No, he could not give up on Mercury-foster-partner, so he did what felt natural to him: he stroke down the ceiling with one of his mighty paws.

After quite a few strikes, the ceiling finally caved in to form a hole large enough for Kilgharrah's head to get through. Not caring about the hilariousness of the position it would put him in, after all, who had ever seen a dragon stick its head down a hole like some fox hunting a rabbit, Kilgharrah immediately plunged his head through the opening.

Down here, his head could only just be there between the ceiling and the floor, so he had very limited mobility. The air was full of dust from the collapsed ceiling, but Kilgharrah could still make out the dwarven-magic-lamps glowing, and when the dust finally began to settle, Kilgharrah finally saw his precious Mercury-foster-partner.

Mercury-foster-partner was lying draped over the first pedestal when one entered the vault, while the heavy-iron-door behind him was still open. Judging from the blood running down the pedestal, along with the trail of bloody handprints on the door and the walls in the tunnel, Mercury-foster-partner had been grievously wounded before he had managed to get to safety.

It was too dusty to see if any further injuries had befallen his Mercury-foster-partner, but that could wait until he had gotten him out of here. The only problem with that was that Mercury-foster-partner was out of reach from where he was now, and he did not dare to collapse the ceiling further for fear of it completely collapsing.

_Now to act quickly. What was it Mercury-foster-partner once told me about how materials moved across a floor?_, Kilgharrah thought, as he turned his head upside down for the answer, _yes, now I remember! It was that if you provided slick enough surfaces, then moving an object across a floor would take almost no effort. Now all I have to do is make this surface better. I am sorry about the burns that you might receive because of this, but I do not know of any better way, Mercury-foster-partner_.

Done with his plan, Kilgharrah began to, as gently and controlled as he could, spew fire on the floor between the pedestal and his head. Soon the floor turned bright red, before the upper part melted a bit. This was good; it was what he needed to happen, so Kilgharrah cut off the flames when he saw this.

After waiting for only just enough time to let the floor cool enough, so that it was not glowing red with heat, Kilgharrah then drew I as much air as he could, as fast as he could. The effort seemed to work a little, because now Mercury-foster-partner was at least sprawled on the floor a little ahead of the pedestal.

After doing the breathing trick again a few times, Kilgharrah was finally able to snatch Mercury-foster-partner up from the floor, like a mother cat would her kittens, before he took off into the air.

Ilirea was his target now, and woe comes to all who would try to hinder his progress in making it to the dragon-riders-friends, who would surely be able to heal Mercury-foster-partner of his injuries. While Kilgharrah flew at a pace that he had previously thought impossible for him to maintain for very long, he desperately tried to hold Mercury-foster-partner so that all of his life-blood-liquid would not be spilled from his wounds.

_They must save him! They simply must!_, was the only thoughts running around Kilgharrah's head as he flew on.


	11. We go east

Happy New Year's day! Today marks the final chapter with an extract of Mercury's journal in it, as it has finally come full circle with the beginnings of this story. The most amusing thing to me is that if want to chronologically know what happens when, you have to first read the coming chapters, although you have to not read some of them then, before you then go back and read all the summaries, and only then can you actually read the main part of the written story so far, but alas I think that I am rambling. Before I let you read the chapter, I would just like to ask your opinion on the extracts during this story. Were they enlightening, boring, something that you just skipped or something?

* * *

**We go east**

**Extract of Mercury's journal, date: Friday of the 35****th**** week of 79 ADG**  
All of the supplies have been gathered and prepared, so now I must leave Du Weldenvarden for the east. It is not that I do not trust Islanzadi to look after my memories, but I feel that if they would remain in Alagaësia, then perhaps I would sense or come into contact with them again, although it seems unlikely, so my only other option is to remove them from Alagaësia.

I have therefore decided to plead with Eragon and Arya to place them in their care. An arrangement that I only take out of necessity, as I do not know whether they have even forgiven me for what I planned during the war against Galbatorix. Kilgharrah would not do as the guardian of this; his curiosity might make him look through them, and I cannot have him do that. At least if Eragon and Arya do it, I hope that they will realize the necessity of keeping my memories secret from everyone.

It is actually ironic how I originally intended to wait with visiting Kilgharrah until I would be rid of this, and now I am journeying to him at its worst. Islanzadi has been generous enough to supply me with a few companions that wanted to travel to the dragon riders' city anyway. She has informed them of my incidents and told them what to do when one occurs.

I am leaving these journals and the rest of my belongings here in Ellesméra, which I will then pick up once I am done in the east. I cannot in good conscience keep living here at Islanzadi's expense and I would not like to be reminded by the elves, who have witnessed my deterioration, about what used to be, but hopefully shall be no more.

**Evandar POV  
**Evandar was a dragon rider at 119 years of age. His dragon, Delvaria, was a gold-scaled she-dragon of 108 years of age. There was only one other person in the whole world, who could possible hope to compete with Delvaria for the most sacred individual in Evandar's life: his little sister, Loivissa.

In fact, Evandar often referred to these two individuals as the gold nuggets of his life. Delvaria for her obviously golden scales, and Loivissa for her long golden hair, which even many elves envied her for.

Evandar himself had green eyes, sharp elven features, a lean tall but well-trained body, and long flowing raven black hair.

Evandar had always been a quick learner, one of the traits that no doubt stemmed from his father, but unlike his father, he had also inherited his mother's sense of patience, determination and duty. All in all, this had made Evandar to be a true prodigy among the dragon riders, having completed his training in a little less than 34 years, breaking the previous record of 41 years, but it was still nothing against the record of his father, who had finished most of his training in just a few short years.

Other envious dragon riders had sometimes accused him of being favoured by the lead rider and his mate, but Evandar had quickly learned that nothing could be gained by trying to argue with them, so he had instead focused on proving them wrong.

His resolve to prove them wrong, combined with his skills, determination and hard work, had been what had gotten him to where he was now: the leader of the dragon riders stationed in Alagaësia; a post that had been his for the last decade.

During his leadership, he had initiated not only a wider search for the blasted shade, but also counselled High King Ajihad into establishing the safe refuge strongholds, as a precaution to ensure the continued safety of the citizens of the Empire.

It had been with great hope that Evandar had taken over the position as leader of the dragon riders in Alagaësia, as he had hoped that with his efforts, they would be able to quickly find the lair of the shade that had tormented the land, and then he would ride into battle against it and finally earn his family's favoured surname.

No one had ever directly said anything about it, but Evandar knew what other people were thinking:_ he is the son of the two Shadeslayers. Surely he must be able to kill a shade_.

Evandar had no doubt that that was why most of the council had agreed to propose him to this position back when the previous leader decided to step back. People could think what they would about his parents' power among the dragon riders, but if most of the council backed a decision, then they would be forced to comply, no matter their own thoughts on the matter.

It was a system that his father had installed himself, as a way to ensure that he would not turn into another Galbatorix, as most of the dragon riders would no doubt have followed his lead blindly if he did, but that did not mean that the general public needed to know that.

No, to the general public, the dragon riders had to look like one united force for peace, without any internal struggles and disagreements. It was also for this very reason that anyone had yet to openly reprimand Evandar for his lack of results in finding the shade during the past decade. Better to not let the populace see the council's discontent, before the council had found a proper replacement for him.

Evandar already knew that they were searching for one, not openly searching but still searching, and if he did not want to let his greatest chance of finally proving that he was not just living off of his parents' name, then he really needed to find and kill this shade soon.

Sighing yet again at his depressing lack of results, Evandar sat down behind his desk in the dragon hold in Ilirea. In front of him was a letter from his dear little sister, Loivissa, which she had written to him in an attempt to get him to talk to their father about finally letting her finish her training and go to Alagaësia.

Evandar knew that their father had purposely postponed her graduation for years in an attempt to keep her safe in Estildirin. It was a sentiment that they shared, as Evandar did not like the prospect of sending his little sister to Alagaësia, while a shade roamed free, either.

Despite her pleading letter, Evandar knew that she would never dare to go against her father's wishes, or anyone else of authority for that matter. Loivissa had always abided by all the rules set forth for her and she literally hated to argue with someone.

The only person that she had ever truly argued with had been him, and he could count the number of times she had done so on one hand, so that was why she had sent this letter to him, because she hoped that he would argue for her so that she would not have to.

_She really is too shy for her own good_, Evandar mused, but could not stop the slight smile that crept on his lips at the mere thought of his little sister pouting, as she had done the last time they had argued, more than 40 years ago.

_What did you expect, when both you and your father has kept shielding her from anyone who would dare to confront her? Not to mention that you always took the blame for your little adventures, while keeping her in the clear_, Delvaria said in Evandar's head.

_I know, but I had hoped that it had gotten slightly better over the years_, Evandar replied, before a commotion dragged his attention away from the envelope on his desk.

_What is happening out there?_, Evandar asked concerned.

_You better come to have a look at this. Fast!_, Delvaria replied, _some wild dragon just landed in the courtyard and is demanding that the dragon riders help him. He is about the size of Fírnen, only crimson-red_.

_I am on my way_, Evandar replied, while already rounding the last corner before the balcony, where he jumped out from to save time.

Before he reached the courtyard, he used a spell to slow his fall enough, so that he could land with a quick roll without any damage or pain.

When he stood up again, he was faced with a sight that he had never imagined he would see. Standing right before him was a crimson-red dragon the size of Fírnen. The dragon's claws were stained red with blood, and still lodged on its tail-spikes were the remains of half a soldier, who was clad in dark armour. In its paws, it seemed to be carrying a bloody red bundle of robes, but it looked like it took the greatest care not to disturb the bundle unnecessarily.

It took a moment, before recognition hit Evandar, but when it did, he could only gape, as he confused asked, "Kilgharrah?"

Kilgharrah seemed to have heard him, for in the next second, he twisted his head so that he could look straight into Evandar's eyes, while he extended the paw with the bundle of robes towards Evandar, before he in a pleading voice, which Evandar had never even heard about Kilgharrah being capable of, said, _Help him! Please!_

It was then that Evandar finally began to properly study the bundle, which he had previously presumed to be only a collection of bloody robes, but now that he looked properly at them, he could see that there was indeed a person inside of them.

The reason that he had not discovered this sooner had been because all skin and hair of the person had the exact same colour as the robes; blood-red.

Evandar quickly rushed forward to relieve Kilgharrah of the person, while he simultaneously called out with his mind to make sure that a bed was made ready in the healing wing. Upon contact with the robes, his own clothes began to be miscoloured by the blood as well, so at least he now knew two things about the man's condition: one being that he still had an open wound somewhere that was bleeding out, and two being that the man was either still alive or had died recently enough for the blood to still ooze out.

Evandar prayed for the first option of the two, as he would hate, not to mention fear, to be the one to tell Kilgharrah, who he had never thought had such devotion to a single individual, that said individual had just died.

Upon further examination, Evandar determined that the old man indeed still had a pulse, although it had been hard to find for all of that hair, along with the pulse's own weakness.

"I will take him to be healed", Evandar said to Kilgharrah in a firm voice, "I know it must be hard, but please try to calm down and then tell Delvaria what has happened, while I will be leading his recovery. There is nothing more you can do for him".

Kilgharrah weakly nodded, before Evandar in a brisk pace carried the old man to the hospital wing. It was not that Evandar was weak at all, after all he had inherited the strength, endurance and swiftness of the elves, but he still felt like the old man was heavier than he was supposed to be, as Evandar had more often than not found that the older a human got, the lighter they generally tended to become.

Now was however not the time to ponder this, so he pushed it from his mind, before he gently laid the old man down on the prepared bed. Besides Evandar were the two dragon riders that usually maintained and operated the healing wing.

The one on his left, a human dragon rider by the name of Celiste, quickly stepped forth to probe the wounds of the old man and access the damage. As she finished her examination, a puzzled frown was clear on her face, before she silently gestured to the second dragon rider, a male elf, who immediately started chanting, before she to Evandar said, "he has severe burns on most of his upper and lower body, several of what I presume to be stab and slash wounds spread out across his upper body, although most of them has been closed by method of cauterization, which I guess is also where he got the burns, but a few of them have sprung up again and are now bleeding. He has lost much blood, so much in fact that I am surprised that he is still alive, but that is not what puzzles me most".

"What is it then?", Evandar asked in a barely concealed impatient voice.

"What puzzles me most is that he may look the age of someone around the age of my father", Celiste said, "but he has the body of what I would expect from my grandnephew. Where exactly did you find this person?"

"I do not know. He was brought to us", Evandar replied, before inquiring, "will he survive?"

"Considering that he should already be dead from the blood loss alone", Celiste said and shot a glance at the old young man lying on the bed, "I would say that he might, and I emphasize might, survive, as long as he does not contract any infections or diseases".

"Understood, I will leave you to your work again", Evandar said with a small nod, before he wandered back to his office.

_Has Kilgharrah said anything yet?_, Evandar questioned Delvaria, as he walked.

_He has just told me that the man he brought in is the lord of Eregion, you know the place that is supposed to be the safe haven for that entire area_, Delvaria replied.

_What happened?!_, Evandar asked slightly frantically, as he already had a dreading feeling about the answer, especially since Nari had not alerted him of this yet.

_It was attacked, razed and burnt to the ground_, Delvaria stated in as controlled a voice as she could. It was something that Evandar had always liked about her, she would always be able to remain calm, and through that, calm him in even the direst of situations, _Kilgharrah guesses that it was the work of corrupt-destroyer-shade, but he did not actually see him. Only what few forces had remained behind to loot the place_.

_I see_, Evandar replied, _keep speaking to him as you are. I am sure that he needs it right now_.

Evandar quickly waved a couple of servants over, before he said, "find Arus and Millicent and tell them to fly to Eregion immediately. The shade may have struck there, so tell them to hurry but to be on their guard. Also tell them that we have yet to receive word from Nari, so besides assessing and containing the damage, they are to search for him".

"Yes, my lord", came the reply, before they quickly scampered off to fulfil their duties.

It was around this time that Evandar reached his office, where he quickly let himself in and wandered to the giant map of Alagaësia, which decorated his entire southern wall.

On it were not only described the cities, landscape and trade-routes in Alagaësia, but also highlighted there were the safe refuge sites that he personally had helped appoint, along with lines to show the areas that they covered, then there were every little town that had been razed by the shade so far as described by black pins, and every one of the dragon rider outpost and their number of dragon riders, which was shown by green and blue pins, and finally, the possible targets that the shade could strike next, which was described with red pins.

Nolondil had definitely not been on the list of possible targets. Barzul, it had even had a dragon rider stationed there, although Evandar never really knew why that had happened in the first place, not to mention the place's regular guards, along with the completely paranoid fortifications the owner of it had built; an owner that had on more than one occasion been accused of being a powerful warlock, something which Evandar had often silently agreed with, because how else could the old man possibly have controlled the shrrgs there? Evandar had directly told Gilead to name it a refuge site for these very reasons, and now it had apparently been RAZED to the ground.

_If the shade really have attacked Nolondil and defeated the force there, then I must recall my dragon rider patrols to their nearest safe refuges_, Evandar warily thought to himself, while he began to move the blue pins around the map, _at least I hope that it is the shade that has done this, because if it is not, then we have a new and more dangerous threat to deal with_.

It was already late into the night before Evandar had finished recalling all of the dragon riders to their designated areas through scrying. A knock could be heard on his door, which he swiftly replied with a curt, "enter", before he noted who it was.

Standing in the doorway was Celiste, looking just like he had left her in her sapphire blue dress, which only fitted her so well, especially with her blue eyes and black hair, although Evandar had quickly learned that it in no way hindered her movements. She looked like she was half debating with herself whether she had made the right choice by coming here or not.

Evandar quickly put her at ease with a tired smile, which she soon mirrored, before she sat down in the chair opposite from him. While she continued to fidget with her fingers, Evandar merely studied her silently, patiently waiting for her to work up the courage to say whatever she wanted to say.

Evandar had worked closely with her for almost a decade, and he had known her well before that, so he knew that she would eventually get to where she needed to be. Pushing her for what she wanted would only make her fidget even more.

He could still remember the first time they had met, well hazily at least, as she had been the one to help patch him up after an unfortunate encounter with a wild dragon. He remembered that when she treated patients, she had the softest hands that he had ever felt, but if you challenged her to a fight, they were definitely not so soft anymore.

"You need to rest Evan!", Celiste blurted out, before she took a deep breath and more composed said, "I mean, my lord, it is late and you look tired, so I wanted to make sure that you got some rest".

This was another thing that Evandar disliked about his current position; now he was suddenly above all of his old friends, and they felt like they needed to treat him differently than they used to, but it was among the price he paid for wanting to prove himself.

"You have known me far longer than most people I know, Celiste. Just call me Evan, like you used to", Evandar said with a reassuring smile, before he pouted in fake annoyance, "and what of you then? You say that I need to rest, but yet you are still up. Why is it that you get to have such privileges, when I do not?"

"Unlike you, Evan, I need to check up on my patient every half an hour, a patient that you dumped in my healing wing", Celiste replied, "you do not have such duties and therefore should go to bed".

"I would have you know that I too still have work to do", Evandar said in mock irritation. Celiste really was the only one besides his little sister who would tease him and allow him to tease them back, although it had become far less frequent in the last decade, "I am waiting for Millicent and Arus to check back from Nolondil".

"So that is where I recognize him from!", Celiste suddenly exclaimed, before she in a more serious voice said, "but still, they could very well not report back before dawn, so you really should get some rest, so that you do not look like an overtired cat".

"I do not look like a cat", Evandar exclaimed, "besides, I do not need as much rest as most people".

"Sure you do, I should know. You merely pile all that sleep up until you collapse in one of my beds", Celiste said with a pout, before a cheshire grin spread across her face, "you know, I could order you to bed. It is within my power as the one responsible for your and everyone else here's health".

Evandar, sensing a lost cause, grudgingly obliged to her order, although he found it deeply annoying that she escorted him the entire way to his bed, before she literally tugged him in for the night, kissed his forehead, and with an absolutely evil grin said, "good night my little Evan", before she stormed out of the room. He could still hear her laughing all the way down the hall.

The next morning, Evandar got his reply from Millicent and Arus, although it did not make him any happier. Not only had Nolondil been razed, but the nearby village of Norigo too. Luckily Millicent could report that almost three quarters had made it out alive; a direct result from the fact that they had seen the smoke rising from Nolondil, and had therefore had sufficient warning to make it out quickly.

They were now journeying south towards the urgal tribes near Fläm, with which they had always had good relations with, and would therefore more likely be allowed to seek shelter with, now that their supposed safe refuge had been razed.

This proved to Evandar that the primary target had indeed been Nolondil, as he until then had been unsure of whether it had been Norigo that had been attacked first, after which Nolondil had then tried to rescue them, or if Nolondil had been the target.

This revelation, combined with Arus' report that they had found Rutelia and Nari's bodies, had made the situation even more dire, because before there had at least been the possibility that the shade's target had not been the stronghold of the region, which was known for housing a dragon rider, but now, now there was no doubt that this had been a challenge on the shade's behalf.

The shade had just challenged the supposedly almost invincible dragon riders, and had shown to the people of Alagaësia that not even the areas, which were supposed to be safe, were safe anymore. This situation had in a single dreadful day spiralled way out of control. Evandar now believed it to be prudent that he had recalled all dragon riders to their nearest strongholds, for now they would need to only go out on patrols with a group of at least three.

_This is bad, this is really really bad_, Evandar thought, _I need to admit my defeat, go to Estildirin, and call together the council, so that they can decide what to do next_.

Seeing this from a personal perspective, Evandar knew that doing this would probably not only cost him his position, but also shame him and confirm all suspicions that he was not ready and worthy of his position, but as of right now, that did not matter. All that mattered was that the threat would be stopped.

A knock ensued on his door, which brought him out of all the ways that he could tell his father that he had failed his trust in him.

In a slightly defeated voice, Evandar said, "enter", which quickly made the person come in.

Evandar gave a slight sigh of relief, because standing in front of the door was no other than Fagosh the Grey, who was wearing his familiar heavy grey cloak, even despite the heat from the Hadarac desert that was so close by.

"Your arrival here could not have been better timed, I could use your counsel", Evandar said and gestured towards the map on the wall, "please, tell me that you know something about the shade that I do not".

"I am afraid not", Fagosh replied, which made Evandar cover his face with his hand, before Fagosh said in a more serious voice, "I have come here to find out whether the rumours that Nolondil has been razed are true?"

"They are", Evandar said, "from what Millicent and Arus has just reported, there is now nothing more left of the place than a giant pile of rubble and entire leagues of planes filled with ash".

"I see", Fagosh said dejected, "so there were no survivors", it had not been said as a question but more as a statement.

"There was one actually", Evandar said, which made Fagosh whip his head back up, "Kilgharrah brought the lord of the place here yesterday. He is currently being treated for severe burns, blood loss and other wounds, but he might just pull through, although even Celiste was surprised that he was still alive when Kilgharrah brought him in. Why, what is it to you?"

"I met him on my very first mission, and have met him a few times over the years as well", Fagosh merely said, before he changed the topic, "what are you going to do now?"

"I have decided to go back east and consult with the council on what to do from now on", Evandar replied, "I need someone to fill in for me, while I am gone".

"I can do that on one condition", Fagosh answered the unspoken question.

"Which is?", Evandar asked curious.

"Take him with you", Fagosh said, he did not need to refer to whom he spoke about, for Evandar already knew.

"Why?", Evandar could only ask, as he was quite confused by the strange request.

"Just trust me and do it", Fagosh said, and right before he walked out the door, he added, "your father would probably appreciate it".

"Celiste is going to have my head for this", Evandar said to the closed door, before he reached out to Delvaria and said, _how soon can you prepare to leave for Estildirin? And ask Kilgharrah whether he wants to join us; we are bringing his friend with us_.

It was only a short while before Delvaria answered back, _I can go as soon as you are ready, but Kilgharrah has asked me to give you a strange message. He says that if you are bringing his friend along, then you should put him under a magical sleep until we are there_.

_But it takes three weeks to go to Estildirin_, Evandar said confused, _surely he does not believe that the lord would need all of that time to recuperate?_

_He says that he wants you to do it, so that he is sure that his friend actually gets there_, Delvaria replied, _I cannot make him say any more than that, but I suggest that we trust him on this one. After all, he is the one that actually knows the person we are bringing along_.

_Fine_, Evandar complied, _I will be out once I have talked with Celiste about this. Could you have someone fill the saddle bags in the meantime?_

_Sure, have fun_, Delvaria said back with an enthusiasm that always seemed to be there whenever Evandar said anything about Celiste. It probably stemmed from her and Celiste's shared opinion that they both knew better when it came to Evandar's health.

* * *

So, how did you like Celiste? I had originally never planned for her entry into this story as anything more than a very minor subcharacter without any real history, but when I wrote the part about Evandar being briefed by her, I realized/had an idea that during all of his time as a rider, he has got to have formed some relationships with others, as I found my initial draft of him in this chapter to be a quite unrelateable and dull character.

In truth, I had to revamp a lot of my ideas for this story that involves Evandar, because I changed his character as I did, but I think that it is for the better, as I believe that it makes him(along with his motivations, desires and general involvement in this story) more interesting, but I am also slightly afraid that I might loose focus on the bigger picture by humanizing him.


	12. The council

I would like to commend RoguesMum for finding and pointing out an error and also for agreeing to proofread any future chapters. The errors should be fixed now in both previous and future chapters, but if anyone finds any other errors, I would be more than happy to correct them. It only helps to enhance your reading if you point it out.

* * *

**The council**

**Mercury POV  
**Mercury had finally been released from the damn sleep-spell that he had been put under. His consciousness had returned to him a little over a week ago, although he had been unable to resurface to the waking world. Well, at least he estimated that it had been a little over a week ago, as time was an extremely difficult thing to tell when you were caught in a constant dream.

Mercury could guess why he had been put in this enchanted sleep, probably a sort of sleep-like coma to stabilize him, while he recovered, although he could not be sure, and neither could he be sure of who it was that had put him under, but his best guess was some dragon riders that had come by after Nari had failed to check in for a while, although that still did not explain how they found him.

Mercury supposed that Kilgharrah could have come by as well, but he was not supposed to return for another week before the raid had occurred, and there was no way that Mercury had been able to survive that long with his injuries.

Because Mercury had suffered from lucid dreams for almost a century, he had naturally only had a single thing on his mind when his consciousness first surfaced again; to kill that wretched shade that had dared to attack HIS home, destroy HIS collection, kill HIS shrrgs, and dared to leave HIM for dead.

Oh, he was not just going to kill that shade. No, he was going to collapse the shade's entire world, watch him as his world crumbled to dust, and then and only then would he trap the shade, so that right before he plunged the dullest dagger he could possibly find into that being's heart, the shade would know that it had been him that had done so.

Because of the week-long lucid dream that Mercury had been having, he had already come up with multiple methods of trapping and torturing the shade, although most if not all of them perhaps should be reconsidered, seeing as he controlled the environment in his dreams, but it had still left a sort of satisfaction in Mercury to watch the shade squirm every time.

Now all he needed to do, now that he was actually able to wake up, would be to assess the damage to his body, recover if necessary, and then find a way to disappear from the healing facility that he was no doubt in. After that, he would seriously begin to turn Alagaësia upside down to find that shade, no matter whether it took a century to do so.

As Mercury opened his eyes, he noted two things quite clearly; the first thing being that he was in a comfortable bed in a small stone room, the second thing being that near the door of said room, there was a person sitting a chair, while he was reading a book, probably a servant tasked with overseeing his waking.

Mercury groaned slightly as he slowly sat up, after all, he still needed to convince whatever healing facility he had been sent to that he was an old tired regular human.

"You can skip the act", said the person from the door in a firm voice, who Mercury now finally recognized to be none other than the lead rider himself, Eragon Shadeslayer.

"Morning to you too", Mercury grumbled, as he deftly swung his legs down to the floor, before he looked out the window, where he could see the sun setting, "I guess that they brought me to Estildirin then, although I wonder why, as Ilirea would have done just fine".

"Fagosh the Grey requested that my son bring you here with him", Eragon said, before he turned a page in the book and put it away, "do you remember what has happened?"

"Should have figured", Mercury mumbled, "and yes, I quite clearly remember what happened, so you will get your report of the events. By the way, why did your son feel the need to put me under an enchanted sleep the entire way here?"

"It was requested by Kilgharrah, although my son also found the request strange", Eragon bluntly said with a shrug, before a small smile crept on his lips, "but knowing you, I would guess that you would probably not even be here if he had not".

"Well, I do have a reconstruction to plan", Mercury tried to evade the accusation, although he knew that Eragon would probably not fall for it.

"Would that be before or after you scoured the entirety of Alagaësia for the shade?", Eragon mused in an amused tone, which Mercury simply answered with a, "what do you think? And do not even think about stopping me from looking".

"Oh, I am not going to stop you", Eragon said with a serious expression on his face, "I am merely going to direct your wrath to where it will do the most good".

"That place being?", Mercury questioned in a barely concealed curious voice.

Eragon rose from his seat and went towards the door, which he quickly opened, but before he left, he said in a voice that bore no indication that it would be up for debate, "tomorrow morning, there will be a meeting of the council to determine what to do about the shade. I expect you to be there".

_Well at least he seems to have grown up since I last saw him, or rather when I last remember seeing him, as I still have no memory of what transpired here the last time_, Mercury mused to himself, before more serious topics entered his head, _perhaps this is not as bad as I thought. If I work together with the dragon riders, then I can use their resources and manpower to track the damn thing down. It should be easy enough to redirect their attention at something else, while I go and take my revenge_.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, all he needed to do was play his cards right, and especially make sure that he only revealed something at a moment of optimal convenience. Perhaps he could even get a little amusement out from the council as well, not to mention the look on Eragon's face when he discovered what Mercury had done.

**Evandar POV  
**Evandar was almost shaking with anxiety, as he waited behind the doors to the council. Soon he would have to go in there, and although they already knew the point of what he was going to say, he still had to in detail describe how much he had failed in his duties and been proven inadequate for the post that they had bestowed upon him.

His little sister was standing beside him, although she really had no practical purpose in being here, as she would not be allowed into the council's session. She had chosen to be there as support for him instead, a decision that brought some sense of calm to him.

"Relax, Evan", Loivissa said encouraging beside him, "you are practically shaking like a leaf. You did the best you could, and I am sure that they will know that".

Inwardly, Evandar said, _but my best was not good enough, so no they will not_, but he could not cause such worry to his little sister, so instead he merely smiled at her and said, "yes, you are right".

"Hey, how is Celiste? It is a long time since I heard from her last", Loivissa asked in an attempt to put him at ease with a change of topic.

"She is still working at the healing wing in Ilirea", Evandar replied curtly, as he had found that not only did his little sister absolutely adore the blue-eyed human dragon rider, but she had also been the one who had gotten Celiste to call him Evan, a name that previously had been reserved for his sister only, "she was actually the one who healed the man that I brought with me two days ago".

"I bet you just dumped the man on her bed", Loivissa said with a small pout, which she confirmed by Evandar's slight facial expression, before she with a small smile said, "you should do something to make it up to her. I know, how about a nice picnic?"

Before Evandar could reply to that, he heard the bell ring, which meant that the council was ready to see him now. His sister wished him good luck, before she retreated down the hall, while he opened the double mahogany doors.

When you first stepped inside the circular room that housed the council, the first thing you would note was the small podium in the centre of the room, where the current subject of the council was supposed to stand.

The second thing you would note was that you could not see anyone from the council's faces at first, as they were spread evenly out in an elevated circle at the edge of the room, so that everyone would be able to see and hear the person speaking on the podium clearly, not to mention that it gave whoever was in here a feeling of being weighed, studied and judged from all sides.

This was also the room where they would be conducting trials, except that when they did that, the podium would be replaced with an iron chair with chains to bind the accused.

Evandar strode purposefully, but still without showing arrogance or pride, towards the podium, where he could only then see the faces of the ones around him. Directly in front of him, his father and mother was seated, while the rest of the council-members were spread out at their usual spots, except that when Evandar let his eyes wander through the council-members in front of him' faces, he noted that many of them were looking almost disapprovingly down towards where he stood.

When he followed their gazes, he noted that they were not looking down at him, but rather down past him, and with a quick turn of his head, he found what they were really looking at; the old young lord of Eregion, who had been seated directly besides the mahogany double doors, and who Evandar had not even noted the slightest, when he walked in.

He was not seated elevated, like the council-members above him, but he had still gotten a seat, something which was usually reserved for important dignitaries from the Alagaësian courts.

The lord of Eregion had been granted new clothes since he had woken up, as he obviously could not walk around in the healing clothes that he had been in previously or his bloodied robes for that matter. It seemed like the lord had chosen to wear one of the white robes that had previously been reserved for the elder riders only, which could very well be at least some of the reason behind the council-members' discontent with him, and on the man's lap was a simple dark wooden cane.

Evandar had a hard time imagining how exactly the old young man had even gotten hold of the robes, as they were not something that were just lying around, in fact, every one of the robes had been tailored to the specific rider that it had been intended for.

The lord of Eregion seemed to notice Evandar's gaze, although he looked like he had been ignoring everyone else's, and quickly ran his eyes up and down Evandar, like one would inspect an animal, before he gave a slight jerk with his eyes towards where Evandar's father was seated.

Evandar quickly remembered his place at the gesture, as he had previously forgotten about where he was when he had first noticed him, and looked back towards his father, before he straightened up and said in a clear and firm voice, "**lead rider, council-members, I bring bad tidings from Alagaësia. One of our outposts has been razed by the shade. Nari and his dragon were killed during this attack, and I have therefore recalled all dragon rider patrols to ensure the safety of the rest of the strongholds. I have now humbly come before you to seek your counsel on the matter**".

As Evandar finished the last sentence, he bowed his head in admission, so that they would know that he was ready to receive whatever punishment they deemed fit, but instead of the scorn that Evandar had expected there to be shortly after his statement, there was only silence, a deafening silence.

As the silence dragged on, Evandar almost hoped that they would just get it over with and strip him of his position and rank, but just when he was about to not being able to take it anymore, the silence was broken by a female council-member to the left of him, "**are you saying that you have deemed yourself inadequate to deal with the situation properly and have come back to face the consequences of that decision**?"

Well, that was essentially why he was here, so Evandar replied with a firm, "**yes, Lauri-elda**"

There was a silent murmur after that, before his father broke the murmur by saying in a commanding voice, "**then we have reached a verdict on the matter, and I believe that most of us have agreed**", at this he looked around to the other council-members, who Evandar could see nodded almost imperceptibly, before he continued, "**you are to resume your duties as the leader of the dragon riders stationed in Alagaësia as soon as you return to Ilirea**".

"**But…why? I failed in capturing the shade and now it has destroyed one of our outposts**", Evandar asked completely confused and taken aback by the verdict.

This time, it was Blödhgarn-elda, who was seated to his father's right, who answered, "**the qualities of a good leader does not only stem from being powerful and skilled enough to do everything himself, but to be able to admit when his abilities does not reach and then ask for help. You have come before us to seek aid in something that you could not handle on your own, and despite believing that you would be punished for your inadequacy, you still chose to seek aid, rather than try to further your own goals. Furthermore, your decision to recall the riders, when the situation changed beyond what you deemed to be controllable, has proved that you also do not try to foolishly throw lives away at gambles. It is for these reasons that we have decided that you are to remain in your current position…Evandar-elda**".

The praise and acceptance of how he had handled the situation did not even remotely compare to the last bit of Blödhgarn-elda's speech. Blödhgarn-elda, along with the council in general, as the council always agreed with each other before any such thing, had decided to honour him with the elda-honorific. Him! It was just about the greatest honour one could receive from the council, as it signified that he had proven himself worthy to be among the wisest of the dragon riders.

"**Now, before we begin discussing what should be done about the shade, I would like to know just who and why that man is allowed to be seated in our session**", A third male dragon rider spoke from behind Evandar, "**and I would especially like to know why he is wearing one of the elders' robes**".

Evandar quickly caught the small gesture towards him from his father, and with a small nod signalled that he understood, before he raised his voice and clearly said, "**this man is the lord of Eregion and caretaker of Nolondil, which we have used as an outpost for half a century, and it was his place that was razed to the ground. As of now, he is the only known survivor to a direct attack by the shade, as all the villagers that survived from Norigo had fled before the shade arrived**".

"**I see**", the dragon rider, who had spoken, mumbled, "**that still does not answer why we should not just have him give his statement and then leave. And it still does not answer why he is in that robe**".

"**He is allowed to be here because I wanted him to be**", Eragon cut in, "**as a member of the council, I believe that that is within each of our rights to do so, and as for the robes, I am sure that no one has managed to inform him during his short time here of our rules, and we should therefore not punish him for such a simple error**".

Evandar almost did not spot the extremely well hidden frown from his father towards the lord of Eregion, but he was quite sure that it had been there, which made him wonder about what his father had just said.

His father had said that he was sure that no one had informed the lord of the rules DURING the time that he had been here, but had not denounced that the lord actually knew of the rules.

Furthermore, when Evandar thought about it, perhaps the lord's slight jerk with his eyes towards Evandar's father had been more than a simple reminder of where he was. Perhaps, no that could not be it, for surely it could not have been a signal to Evandar of who the robes originally belonged to? That would have been bordering on suicidal for any individual, as there could be no way that his father would allow a stranger to do something like that.

His thoughts were cut short when Lauri-elda said, "human, please state your name for the council and tell us what you saw".

The lord of Eregion raised himself slowly from the chair, after which he limped his way towards the podium, while supporting himself with the cane in his left hand. It was strange for Evandar to see this, as Celiste had clearly stated that not only had the man been cured of his injuries, but she had never mentioned any such damages to him, which was something she would always do, and then try to fix or aid them the best she could.

When the lord reached the podium, where Evandar still stood rooted to the spot, the man simply looked up at him with his cold dead blue eyes and said, "I believe that they asked for me, boy".

This set off a spark inside Evandar, as he had just been referred to as a simple boy by a man whom he was sure to be older than, when he had just received the honorific of elda from the council, but Evandar reined in his emotions, and with a neutral face moved away from the podium, while he said, "of course. How could I forget my respect for the elderly?"

From his peripheral vision, Evandar noted that his father had just whispered something into his mother's ear, which had made her smile that special smile of hers for half a second, before she reverted her expression back to neutral.

"You all already know that my home was attacked and razed to the ground, so I will skip the details of what happened and get right to the point", the lord said in a tired an clearly elderly voice, "the shade does not attack villages so much for fun, as because he wants to abduct the suitable men in the villages, then break their minds and enslave them by their true names. He attacked suddenly and without warning with a force of at least 400 men, of which I expect that there now are only between 50 and 100 left, as he failed to capture the men from Norigo. He maintains this force by plundering the villages that he raids, which has never been noticed before because they were all burnt to the ground after he had finished. He is well prepared to attack dragons in the air, but needs his men to keep everything else occupied, while he concentrates on breaking the rider".

After the lord's rather dry statement, silence reigned for a while, before the same dragon rider that had complained about the robes said, "first of all, you have yet to inform us of your name. Second of all, if what you are saying about why he attacks places is true, then why did he attack Nolondil first instead of going straight for Norigo? Finally, how come you were able to not only survive, but inflict such heavy casualties on his forces? I have heard of your guards there, but they should hardly be enough to inflict such casualties against such an overwhelming force".

Evandar had to give the man some credit; he did not even blink or flinch the slightest when he met the dragon rider who had questioned him's gaze, instead he simply said in a neutral voice, "for fifty years, I have been known as the lord of Eregion, caretaker of Nolondil, the Sidhe or the librarian, so you may take your pick among them. As for the rest of your questions; the shade attacked Nolondil first because he wanted the supplies there, as he no doubt deemed that it would be an easy way to feed his growing army by attacking one of the places that had supplies stored up to last for months with thousands of refugees, and about why he attacked Nolondil before Norigo, the answer is linked with your final question. He no doubt wanted to be rid of the only force that could oppose him before going on and attacking an unsuspecting Norigo, before he would then burn both places to the ground, but his plan failed".

At this, the lord of Eregion took a deep breath before continuing, "when Nari and Rutelia fell and I realized the true objective of his mission there, I lured most of his men inside the main building, before I set the entire place, along with its supplies, on fire and collapsed the exits. This has also proved to be beneficial for Norigo, as they now received a sufficient warning to get away before the shade could attack them".

"And what of your own injuries then?", Evandar asked, "when you arrived in Ilirea, you were covered with burns, stabs and cuts".

"The men proved to be…less than happy about what I had done, so they decided that they wanted to kill me", the lord said in a neutral voice, "after being left for dead, I managed to crawl to a relative safe area, where I was then found and rescued by Kilgharrah".

"I see", Blödhgarn said, "so do you believe that now that they did not get what they came for, they will attack another stronghold to get their supplies?"

"Highly unlikely", the lord responded with a wave of his hand, "he lost most of his men and does therefore not have the strength to attack another, besides the fact that he now does not need to feed as many men as he used to and therefore should be able to sustain himself for a while with the supplies that were left in Norigo".

"Very well, you are relieved and can go back to your seat", Lauri-elda said, before she switched to the Ancient language again, "**let us now discuss what to do with these new revelations, as they have surely changed the way we must respond to the shade's challenge**".

It was first now that Evandar noticed the reason for their switch; they did not want the lord of Eregion to listen in on their conversation. Evandar had not noticed it earlier, because the meetings were usually in the Ancient language, but now it also served as a way to be private from the human's ears, as they could not directly force him to leave, because of the rules set in place.

The meeting continued for another two hours without anyone getting any closer to an answer to their problems, although they were never quiet. Evandar had quickly noted that, although the lord of Eregion probably did not understand a word of what was said, his facial expression and his posture never changed; they always remained in the same tired but expressionless attitude.

_He is probably used to sitting on political meetings that does not concern him_, Delvaria said, to which Evandar sent a small mental chuckle, which was accompanied by a, _yes you are probably right, but I would still wish that they had this discussion in the human tongue, as father no doubt wanted him to be present for a reason_.

It took another hour, before the lord of Eregion finally seemed to have had enough, because in the midst of a pointless discussion about public perception if the dragon riders did something completely unimportant to the matter at hand, he suddenly rose up from his seat, strolled past Evandar in long steps with a straight back and no use of the cane whatsoever, positioned himself directly on the podium, so that everyone's eyes automatically fell on him, and finally looked like he was steeling himself for what would come next with a deep breath.

In a clear and commanding voice, which also seemed to hold a bit of stemmed in resentment, and did not seem at all like the voice that he had previously used, he said, "**this discussion is going nowhere**", which made everyone look shocked at him, as they realized that he had understood what was being said all along, "**you have spent the last three hours squabbling about what to do, yet you have come no further to the answer. I have therefore decided to present you with the only reasonable solution, a solution that you do not want to even mention for fear of it tarnishing your reputations**".

"**The solution is quite clear; you will continue to let the dragon riders in Alagaësia lock down every major city and stronghold, while you send whatever reinforcements you have here to fly around in teams to protect the smaller towns and villages. A new person will then be put responsible for finding the shade; a person that does not also have the concerns of the rest of Alagaësia to worry about, and you will give this person a carte blanche on how he or she chooses to find the shade**", after his last sentence, the man, who Evandar now almost could not recognize anymore, looked around at his audience with a steely gaze that spoke of uncanny resolve and deep frustration, and said, "**are there any objections or inquires?**"

"**Just one**", the dragon rider, which had questioned the lord of Eregion previously, said, "**who will lead this search? It is easy for someone to say what should be done, but unless you yourself are willing to risk it all to do this, then I am afraid that your comments have no further use**".

Evandar could literally see the grin spreading on his father's face, a clear foreboding that everything was going according to a plan that he and, probably mostly, mother had made in advance, which only made him even more curious as to what would happen next.

The lord of Eregion looked directly into the accusing rider's gaze for a few seconds, and if Evandar did not know that it was completely forbidden, he could have sworn that a mental fight was raging between them. The lord of Eregion then in a low but extremely deadly almost whisper said, "**I will bring back the Shadow to lead your search. Surely you do not doubt his abilities**".

To say that Evandar, along with almost all the council-members, were stunned by this declaration was putting it mildly, but the rider, who had spoken down to the lord of Eregion, quickly recomposed himself and said, "**he is dead, and even a warlock like you cannot bring him back from the dead**".

"**He is not dead, merely erased and forgotten, but I can promise you that he will return**", the lord said, and since he said it in the Ancient language, Evandar had to believe that he at least believed this to be true.

"**How can you be so sure?**", Lauri-elda asked.

"**Because I was once him!**", the lord of Eregion, who Evandar now guessed that he should call Mercury, said, and right after he said that, two small transparent objects flew out from where Mercury's eyes where.

With Evandar's elven vision, he noted that at the centre of each of the two levitating objects were blue coloured almost iris-like shapes, which Evandar now realized had the exact same colour as Mercury's eyes, before they suddenly combusted into flames. When he looked down at Mercury's eyes again, he noticed that they not only looked like a silver pair of dragon eyes, but they were glowing with an eerie light, almost like a gedwëy ignasia.

It took another hour before it had finally been decided that not only would they oblige with Mercury's recommendation, but Evandar's father would release Mercury's memories from his care, so that Mercury could not only relearn everything he had ever known, but also actually learn the location of his equipment, which the man had apparently hidden somewhere in Alagaësia in a true show of paranoia, before he had ripped out his own memories.

It had furthermore been decided that to ensure Mercury's security, as well as save time, Mercury would be travelling with a dragon rider towards his armoury in Alagaësia, while absorbing the memories in the meantime. It had unfortunately for Evandar been decided that since all capable dragon riders were to protect the citizens of Alagaësia, a novice rider would be given the task of escorting Mercury, as it was deemed to be a low-risk mission, which could be called suited for a novice rider.

Since the only novice dragon rider left in Estildirin was Evandar's little sister, Loivissa, the choice had fallen upon her. Neither Evandar nor his father had been visibly pleased with this, but they could not go against the council's wishes without showing nepotism, and frankly, if it had been any other person, Evandar would have backed it up completely.

* * *

So yeah, Mercury kind of snapped near the end, but if I was him, I would probably also find it very hard to be so furious at the shade, while having to watch someone squabble without getting anything done. And yes, Mercury is completely furious at this point in the story in case you had not noticed, but I will delve more into his mental condition later on, so hopefully by the end of this story, you will have a pretty decent view of why he has reacted as he has until now.


	13. The start of a long journey

**The start of a long journey**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa was an 97 year old dragon rider, who had bonded with her dragon at the age of 26. She had long golden hair, which flowed down her back like the waves at the shore of Estildirin, strikingly beautiful red eyes, which had often been described as being almost ruby-like in their appearance, and her skin was as fair as platinum.

When Loivissa heard that she would finally be given her very first mission, she had been quite excited about it, because now she would finally join the riders' ranks and be able to see Alagaësia for herself.

Some of that excitement had worn off after she had first learned that her task would be to simply escort some old man through Alagaësia, but when she had learned that this was not just any old man, but the Shadow himself, her excitement had gotten way higher than previously, although his silver dragon-like eyes did unnerve her a little.

Speaking of said person, Loivissa cranked her head to the side to sneak a peek at her newest companion, who was riding on Kilgharrah, who had been outfitted with a quickly made saddle to let Mercury be able to fly on him.

Mercury was wearing a dark-brown almost black cloak with a hood, a pair of green breeches, some leather gloves and a brown leather tunic. His true eyes were now visible, and a simple yew bow and quiver were located across his back, as his only weapon, besides a small hunting knife.

Loivissa herself wore a red cloak with a hood, which covered up her personally forged armour, some dark leather breeches and her rider sword, Aiedail. Her armour was in reality made up of small steel rings, like ordinary chainmail armour, but the rings were slightly thinner than usual, so as to conserve weight, and they had a layer of leather on either side of them, so that no one would suspect that she was actually wearing armour.

The leather inbound chainmail was a rather new invention on the riders' part, and they had so far tried to maintain its secrecy. Its primary purpose had been to be able to protect the riders from harm during day-to-day activities, where it was frowned upon if you wore ordinary armour, which was also why they tried to keep it a secret.

Loivissa had never personally met Kilgharrah, but from what her brother had told her about how the wild dragon had been before he had just suddenly left, he had been an extremely shrewd and proud dragon, who never would have let anyone ride him.

_Well, Mercury is not just anyone_, Adûn, her sea-blue coloured male dragon said in Loivissa's mind, _he was the single person assigned to protect Kilgharrah during his infancy_.

_I know that, but Blödhgarn and many of the others were there also when they left Alagaësia_, Loivissa countered, _and yet he has never once allowed any of them to ride him_.

_Who is there at a dragon's short infancy determines more than who might be there for the next decade_, Adûn wisely said, _but if you still want to know, I could just ask him why he allows Mercury this honour?_

Before Loivissa had a chance to interject, she could feel Adûn reaching out to Kilgharrah and saying, _my rider wishes to know why you have allowed that particular two-leg-round-ears on your back, but not anyone else_.

_Adûn!_, Loivissa said half terrified of what they would think of her and half angry at her dragon for doing so, when he knew that she would have said no.

After a few moment of complete silence from all parties, she eventually dared to take an extremely quick peek at Kilgharrah and Mercury. Kilgharrah had craned his neck back to look directly at Mercury, so she guessed that they had a private mental conversation, before Kilgharrah finally looked forward again, and through Adûn, Loivissa could hear his answer, _he asked nicely_.

Whatever answer Loivissa had imagined, it certainly had not been that one, but she managed to rein in her curiosity and confusion, so that Adûn would not try to delve further into it.

A few hours passed without any further communication between the two pairs, before Adûn suddenly exclaimed, _I am bored! Kilgharrah, do you know any riddles?_

Adûn had always been like that, wise and majestic he may be, but he could be equally as brash and unconcerned for other's opinion of him, so the exclamation really did not come as such a surprise, as she had felt Adûn getting more and more restless over their link.

Kilgharrah had apparently also been slightly bored, as he quickly agreed with Adûn's sentiment to start a riddle contest, where the rules would be as following: there would be two teams, obviously Loivissa and Adûn were one of them, each team would then be given a total of two minutes to find a new riddle after they had completed the other team's riddle, unless they could not find the answer. The riddles would need to be something that the giver of the riddle actually knew the answer to.

After a quick debate between Adûn and Loivissa, they presented their first riddle, _My power is deafening, but a single word destroys me. What am I?_

Not even half a second passed, before Kilgharrah voiced the answer, _silence_.

Slightly annoyed by the quick answer, Loivissa started to wait for the next riddle, and while she waited, she sneaked another peek at the pair. Kilgharrah looked the same as he had done all day, but Mercury on the other hand looked like he was concentrating with his eyes closed, but with a strange peaceful aura around him.

_I am as big as a house, but lighter than a feather. What am I?_, came Kilgharrah's voice.

Loivissa had no idea how to respond to that, but luckily Adûn knew the answer, _the wind_.

This back and forth went on for a while, although it was always Kilgharrah who answered for the other team. Sort of remembering a riddle aunt Saphira had once told her, Loivissa poised the next riddle, _when I give this herb to you, all of your ailments will be gone. What is the herb?_

For a while, Loivissa heard nothing from the pair, but then she could hear Kilgharrah's voice, although it was very faint and probably not directed at her, _hey grumpy, I need help with this one_.

_Have we just been playing against Kilgharrah all this time then?_, Loivissa asked Adûn in a private part of their minds, before she was asked by Kilgharrah to retell the question.

It did not take more than a few seconds, before another voice, which Loivissa guessed to be Mercury's, provided an answer, _hemlock_.

_What? No, that is not the answer_, Loivissa objected.

She almost thought she could hear a mental sigh, before Mercury's voice once again spoke, _hemlock is given to someone upon death, therefore all of that person's ailments are over, but it can also be used as a very effective means of producing that person's death, so it fits perfectly. What you are probably thinking about is the riddle: What herb cures all ailments? To which the answer would be: __By the black raven's crime, and by this rhyme, the answer would be thyme_.

Feeling like she had just been reprimanded by an elder, Loivissa did not dare to say another word in the communal room for a while, instead preferring to discuss the riddles privately with Adûn, before he poised the riddles and answers.

Adûn on the other hand tried to get back at Mercury for letting his rider feel this way by giving harder and more foreign riddles, riddles that more often than not originated from either the dwarves', the elves' or the urgals' traditions and cultures, as he was confident that any person, who did not live with so many different species around them, would never know the answers to such questions.

To his frustration however, it seemed like Mercury had the answer to almost all of those riddles, and after a particularly specific one about the deepdwellers of the dwarves, Mercury cut in by saying in a firm voice, _please stop trying to think that you can win by only using riddles from other species, as I was previously the owner of one of the largest libraries in all of Alagaësia, which housed more knowledge than either of you have ever read from four of the five species to walk the land, not counting dragons, as they have not produced anything written, but Kilgharrah takes care of those_.

_Why only four?_, Loivissa inquired, which was the first time since Mercury had entered the contest that she spoke in the communal room again.

_The werecats never let me purchase any of their works_, Mercury responded in what Loivissa believed to be a sour voice, before he in an offhand comment added, _most of them even ignored every attempt at communication that I made_.

_I wonder why with that attitude_, Adûn said in a private part of their minds.

_He just had his entire home through 50 years burnt down_, Loivissa defended, _it is no wonder that he is upset. In fact, I would have expected him to be far more upset about this than he has been_.

Their argument was cut short, when Mercury said something in the communal room, _if you cannot solve this next one, then we will be camping by that forest a little ahead_.

_But we can still fly for a few hours more_, Loivissa managed to say, before she was overruled by Adûn saying, _bring it! We have solved most of those you have given us so far_.

_Those were actually Kilgharrah's riddles, but no matter_, Mercury stated, before continuing, _whoever makes it, tells it not. Whoever takes it, knows it not. And whoever knows it wants it not. What is it?_

Loivissa and Adûn grumbled for quite a while about this one, before they finally receded.

_What is it then?_, Adûn asked as she began to descend to the specified strip of land.

_Counterfeit money_, Mercury replied, although his voice bore no happiness or smugness at the fact that he had just won the bet, in fact he sounded almost…disappointed?

As soon as they had landed in a clearing, Mercury instructed Loivissa to go fill their waterskins from a nearby creek. It had so far been the only time that Mercury had actually spoken to her out loud during their entire trip, but to Loivissa's ears, his voice had sounded old and tired, like he could pass away from old age at any second.

This very much contradicted how Mercury looked, as he was now not only freshly shaven and had returned to the short hair that he had been known for in the past, although his posture was still that of an old man.

When Loivissa returned from the creek, she could already smell the food from far away, and just by the smell, her stomach growled. When she entered their little clearing, she took notice of the fire that had been started in the centre of it, which had a pot simmering on top of it.

At her return, Mercury snapped his head in her direction for just a fraction of a second, before returning his attention to the simmering pot. Loivissa then hurried to lay down the waterskins near the saddlebags, before she grabbed two bowls and spoons, where she gave one of them to Mercury, who nodded in thanks, before she sat on the opposite side of the fire. What followed next was in Loivissa's mind a long awkward silence.

"Dinner will be ready once it has cooled a bit", Mercury suddenly said, before he quickly lifted the pot off of the fire and placed it on a patch of dirt nearby.

Not really knowing how to respond to that, and in no mood to go back to the awkward silence, Loivissa asked the first thing that came to mind, "it smells good. What have you put in it?"

Mercury merely looked back at her and smiled a slight smile, before saying, "a bit of this and some of that, but not much really", but upon seeing her questioning expression, he added, "do not worry, I have not added any meat, as I figured that you would not eat any then".

Loivissa faintly nodded in thanks, before Mercury filled his own bowl from the pot, handed her it, and then with his free hand signalled that he wanted her bowl, which she gave him, before he then filled that one too and went back to his previous place and sat.

Loivissa took an experimental sip from the stew at first, before she hungrily dug in. Three bowls later, and Loivissa had to admit that, although she had had fancier dinners before, she had never had anything this tasty from such meagre amounts of ingredients and seasonings.

From the opposite side of the fire, Mercury was slowly finishing his second bowl, which made Loivissa feel kind of guilty, as she had emptied the pot in her third bowl. Mercury must have noticed her guilt-ridden expression, for a second later he said, "do not worry. I was not that hungry anyway".

Feeling that she had to say something to keep them from falling back into the awkward silence that had befallen them before, Loivissa looked up and said, "it tasted delicious. Most people that I have gone on trips with have never made it taste like that with so few supplies. How did you learn?"

Mercury looked up from the fire and studied her for a moment, which made Loivissa feel slightly awkward, before he with a shrug said, "when you have lived on a mountainside for 34 years, without any other ingredients than what you can find in nature, and the things you buy when you visit a small town once every second month or so, then you quickly learn to make do with what you have got".

Loivissa perked a little up at this, before she in a hesitant voice asked, "what was it like? Nolondil I mean, before the shade…you know?"

Mercury looked thoughtful for a moment, before he answered with a single word, "peaceful", which Loivissa interpreted as his way of dismissing any further questions from her.

_He is not like I would have expected him to be_, Loivissa said to Adûn, as her mind drifted to what her father had told her two days ago.

**Flashback(two days ago)  
**Loivissa was walking around in the main keep of Estildirin with her father at her side, except that now he was her lead rider instead of the caring father that she loved. They had already spent long on discussing her role as Mercury's escort, along with a quick introduction to the mind-set of Mercury Iridium, but there was one thing that had been nagging at Loivissa's curiosity since they had started.

"Father- I mean my lord", Loivissa said nervous about how to begin, but her father merely gestured for her to continue, he always had a way of making people feel less intimidated when seeking his advice on something, "what really happened in Galbatorix's throne room? I mean, I know that you have told everyone that Mercury just got in there, distracted Galbatorix for a bit so that you could defeat him, but that he was thrown out by Shruikan before mother could slay it, but I need to know the whole story. It may prove vital for my mission".

Her father sighed for a moment, before he let silence overtake them for a while. Loivissa was unsure of whether he would answer her or not, not that she would dare to pose the question again, but she really wanted to know.

Finally her father seemed to relent, as he said in a slightly tired voice that Loivissa had only heard a handful of times, "Galbatorix was strong, so very much stronger than any rider could ever, should ever, dream of becoming. His true strength was not something that either your mother or I had realized until we were face to face with him, and then it was too late. He had immobilized us within seconds of entering the throne room".

Loivissa was too afraid to break this sharing moment, so she remained quiet as her father searched for his next words, not that she could see where this was going anyway.

"Mercury, I believe, once met Galbatorix before that fateful day, or at least a facet of him", her father finally continued, "I believe it was shortly after he had busted your mother and I out of a Black Hand prison, although that is also one of the things that is not written in the history books. He had stayed behind to mask our escape, the lunatic brought half the castle down around him, but he was apparently later captured by agents of the Black Hand".

Her father then took a deep breath, before he continued, "what followed next is only directly known to one living individual, although I know snippets of it from a later conversation between Galbatorix and Mercury. When Galbatorix's men captured him, Galbatorix himself chose to take over one of his men to punish the one that had ensured his prize to get away, but upon realizing the true measure of power that Galbatorix commanded, Mercury instantly realized that our endeavours were a lost cause, and instead started to arrange a deal with Galbatorix to let him go into his service. Galbatorix agreed with the deal and sent him back to the Varden to prove his worth there, as Galbatorix figured that it would be a great opportunity to let him see what Mercury could do when the odds were not in his favour".

"He betrayed you?", Loivissa asked shocked.

"The thing you need to understand about Mercury is that in his mind, we were already dead. We were just not aware of it yet", her father interjected, "so in his mind, he had begun to form another plan to destroy Galbatorix, a plan that needed much more time and many more resources, something that he could get if he made a deal with Galbatorix to become his new leader of the Black Hand. I do not know what exactly his plan entailed, only the eldunarya know the precise details and they have not shared anything more than that it would have been an extremely bloody last resort to topple the dark king, but I am certain that Mercury would gladly have committed any atrocities in Galbatorix's name in order to further his plan, that included sacrificing everyone he had ever known in Alagaësia".

"How would he do that if Galbatorix was to put him into his service, he would surely have made him take oaths to prevent such treachery?", Loivissa asked confused.

"Mercury had already taken several oaths when he rejoined with the Varden, and he took even more during the confrontation against Galbatorix, where the first part of his plan played out, but he somehow had already found a way to break both the old and new oaths", her father simply stated, and at her shocked expression added, "remember this, child, Mercury may tell you something concrete in the Ancient language, but you can never be truly sure that what he is telling you is also what he means, as he has on more than one occasion found a way to say something and do the opposite".

"What made Mercury change his plans and help you instead of following his original plan then?", Loivissa asked curiously, as she was quite curious as to what could make such a person change his mind.

"Something came up, which Mercury had never expected to happen", her father stated, "he was tasked with guarding a small dragon hatchling that he had managed to rescue out from the collapsing cathedral of Dras-Leona, and during his oversight, he grew close to the little hatchling, far closer than he had ever grown to anyone else, so when Galbatorix, at the darkest moment in all the war, made an offhand comment about how he would simply use that dragon to breed a few clutches of eggs, before he would dispose of him, Mercury snapped. Mind you, that when I say that Mercury snapped, it does not mean that he foolishly rushed into certain death at the first moment, as he is quite capable of reining in any and all emotions for just long enough to ensure that his wrath comes out that much more deadly".

"What did he do?", Loivissa asked a little frightened at what the answer would be.

"For starters, he stabbed me as a way to pass on his ring, which he had had your grandmother's elves fill to the brim with energy before going up to meet Galbatorix, then he, in a fit of rage, suddenly attacked Galbatorix with only his hands and feet, which managed to make Galbatorix loose enough concentration to falter his spell on your mother and I, before Mercury was then slammed out of the throne room by Shruikan's tale, and the rest, as they say, is history".

Her father then stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her directly, before saying in a very serious voice, "you must remember this lesson from what I have just told you; Mercury may seem friendly, he may seem like he cares, he may also seem like he does not, but you cannot trust what he chooses to show you, for there is always another layer, another mask, hidden underneath the one that he is wearing at the moment. I believe that the only one, who he will ever allow get to know the true him even the slightest, is Kilgharrah, so do not make the mistake of trusting him too easily".  
**End of flashback**

_How would you have expected him to be?_, Adûn asked.

_More…chatty, like he would want to gain my trust_, Loivissa answered.

Her musings were cut out, when Mercury broke the silence that had befallen the camp, "I believe that now would be a good time to examine those memories".

"Arh, yes", Loivissa said with a slight jump at the surprise, before she began to rummage through her backpack.

It had been one of the conditions that Loivissa were to store the memory orb at all times that Mercury was not absorbing them, so now she had to find it again. Finally she found the almost crystal-like orb, which had been tugged into a blanket, in her backpack, before she handed the completely transparent object to Mercury.

The moment Mercury touched the orb, it shifted from its transparent crystal-like appearance to one filled with a million different colours, which were all swirling around in the orb. The view alone was almost enough to make Loivissa feel dizzy, but as she shifted her gaze from the orb to Mercury's face, she noted that he had closed his eyes and looked like he was in deep concentration.

After standing there for a full minute without anything happening, Loivissa eventually returned to her seat, where she began to discuss with Adûn about whether they were supposed to do something.

It had taken nearly fifteen minutes, before the colouring subsided from the orb, after which Mercury opened his eyes again and handed her back the orb, which she carefully tucked bank into its blanket.

"I think that due to the amount of data stored, it would be prudent if I only were to absorb a few years at a time, and at least have a full day of reconciliation between each sessions", Mercury mused in what Loivissa guessed was more to himself than to her, "I however must admit that the system of which the memories were stored seemed foreign".

"How so?", Loivissa asked, despite still not being sure whether he was talking to her.

"The memories are stored in chronological order, that means that the first memories are also the earliest and so on, so I guess that either I did that in an attempt to make it easier for an outside observer to understand, or it was part of the magic that bound it there. The first option does not seem like something I would have done at the time, so my best guess would be that it was part of the magic".

Loivissa could not stop herself, before she had already blurted out, "you said that this was not your usual system, so how do you order your memories then?"

Mercury shifted his gaze to her in a way that made her want to retract what she had just said, before he said, "that is both a highly personal and private question, which I would have thought someone like you to know better than asking, but I feel…chatty…tonight, so I will indulge you on this one".

_If this is his chatty, then I would hate to be here when he is not_, Adûn said inside Loivissa's mind, which made her giggle very slightly, before trying to cover it up with her hand.

"Now how to describe it best", Mercury said thoughtfully, before suddenly exclaiming, "if I say tree, what do you think of then?"

"Um, leaves?", Loivissa asked confused.

"Excellent, now what does leaves make you think of then?", Mercury asked again.

"Spring?", Loivissa said, although this time not nearly as confused as the first.

This game, of him asking her a question and her answering, went on for a little while, before Loivissa eventually ended back with trees.

"I believe that answers your question", Mercury said with a small nod to himself, before reaching over for his bedroll, "now, I do not know when you usually go to sleep, but I am turning in now, so good night".

"Good night…", Loivissa said more than a little confused, before she eventually also got her bed roll out and moved to sleep at the opposite side of the fire than Mercury.

_I find him strange_, Adûn thought to her, as she tucked in for the night.

_Me too, but we are going to spend the next months with only him and Kilgharrah as company, so we might as well try to make the best of it_, Loivissa answered, before she drifted into the sleep-like trance that elves used.


	14. It's a beautiful morning

Firstly, I like like to tell you that although I do not write all that happens during a memory session, only the bits that are important to the story, much more do happen, which Mercury now knows about. The contents of each memory session is approximately two years of knowledge.**  
**

Secondly, I would like to inform you that I am currently both happy and kind of sad because of you. Happy, because I won the bet against RoguesMum about whether you would figure out my, in my mind, very clear reference of Loivissa, but sad that you did not since I thought it would have been the easiest one yet. Seriously, I made her brother refer to her as a gold nugget because of her golden hair, I named her Loivissa(an Ancient word for lily), I gave her ruby-like eyes and skin as fair as platinum(it just said an unknown white metal, so I assumed platinum because it would still fit inside the precious metals genre) and yet none of you ever thought of the reference.

* * *

**It's a beautiful morning**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa had always been a heavy sleeper, at least compared to her other elven friends and relatives, but she was still an elf, and as such she was aware of her surroundings while in the sleep-like trance.

That was also why Loivissa had not felt the need to check up on Mercury even once during the night. Well, that and the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere, with only Kilgharrah and Adûn knowing the proper way.

When the first rays of light hit Loivissa's face, she quickened her heartbeat, pushed the dreams aside and opened her eyes to view the beauty of a sunrise, as she had always loved to do when camping outside.

This sunrise was different from what she was used to however, as there was no ocean from which it rose. Instead there was simply a small patch of trees and an endless flow of grassland beyond that, but the sunrise was still as beautiful as she remembered, or even more so because of the new landscape.

In her peripheral vision, she noted that a human-sized dark clump was still lying where Mercury had gone to rest the night before.

_Heavy sleeper_, Loivissa thought to herself with a small grin, _I guess I should have expected that of a human. I think I will let him sleep for another half an hour before waking him. That would also give me time to enjoy the sunrise some more_.

For the next fifteen minutes, Loivissa did just that. This was however interrupted when her stomach announced that some breakfast was in order.

"I have some breakfast if you would like?", Mercury's voice said from slightly behind her, which made Loivissa jump in surprise with a hand already gripping her sword hilt.

Loivissa whipped around to where Mercury's voice had come from in a fraction of a second, where she found Mercury comfortably sitting on a branch of a nearby tree. He was leaning up against the trunk of the tree, while his legs were casually resting on the branch that he was sitting on, and in his hands, he held an open book.

"When did you get up there?", Loivissa inquired with a bit of a bite in her tone.

"A while ago", Mercury responded with a shrug, before tossing a couple of fruits to Loivissa from one of his pockets.

Loivissa caught the fruits effortlessly, before she noted that he had tossed her two apples and an orange. She took a tentative bite of the apple, which she found to be quite good, before digging into it with more passion.

Mercury seemed content to simply remain up in the tree, while continuing to read his book. This did however make Loivissa a bit uncomfortable, as she was not entirely too fond of being scrutinized while eating, even by someone who was not even looking.

"Are you not going to have breakfast?", Loivissa asked Mercury in an attempt to alleviate the tension, while digging into her second apple.

"I already had some earlier", Mercury merely said in a monotonous voice, while his eyes never even left the book, "by the way, Kilgharrah took Adûn hunting a few hours back".

Loivissa took that as a no, before she turned around and looked over at what she had previously thought to be Mercury's sleeping form. Now that she properly saw it, she could clearly see that it was in fact Mercury's backpack that had been lying there.

His bedroll was already packed up and all in all, it looked like Mercury could have left at a second's notice if he had to.

_How long has he been up?_, Loivissa mused to herself, while peeling her orange, _and why did I not notice it at all?_

"I see you have packed", Loivissa said over her shoulder.

"I saw no reason not to", Mercury merely responded from behind her.

Loivissa could only nod in response, before they once again descended into what Loivissa would describe as uncomfortable silence, although from the few sneak peeks that Loivissa once in a while cast back at Mercury, she could see that Mercury's facial expression remained exactly the same as it always had, like he did not even notice the silence.

"So…how long have you been up for?", Loivissa asked in an attempt to break the silence. She really wished that Adûn had been here. Then she would at least have had someone else to talk to, not to mention that she really missed his presence, despite them being only separated for a few hours, "we went to sleep at the same time, and I, as an elf, do not require as much sleep as regular humans, and yet you say that you were awake hours before me?".

"I woke a few hours after you fell asleep", Mercury said without looking away from the book.

_A few hours? Could he really only have slept for so little and yet remain completely unaffected by it?_, Loivissa mused, before asking, "is it because you slept all the way to Estildirin that you sleep so little?"

"No, I usually do not sleep much. Never have", Mercury responded with a shrug, "although I have noted that it got worse between when Kilgharrah, your mother and your father left Alagaësia, and when I returned from Estildirin the first time".

"Something happened in between?", Loivissa asked, before she remembered that he would not know if something had happened. Not that she was entirely sure that he would tell her if he actually knew.

Mercury's response was though not the snub that she had expected, as he quickly shut the book, jumped down from the tree in one elegant swoop, before saying, "let us find out, shall we?"

"You mean you are going to let me watch them with you?", Loivissa asked in a hopeful voice, while being slightly nervous about what she would see, but all the more curious about it at the same time.

Mercury merely affixed her with a stare, which made Loivissa feel very much like turning into a stone, before he in a matter-of-factly voice said, "these are highly personal memories that I have went to great lengths to make sure that no one would find out about. No, you may not watch them with me".

"Sorry", Loivissa said with her head downcast, while feeling very much like when she had been scolded by a teacher for being out of line.

"It is alright", Mercury replied in an almost soothing voice, "now, hand me the orb, so that I may begin".

Loivissa did so after quickly finding it in her backpack. Just like the first time, the orb did not react upon her touch, but upon being handed to Mercury, it sprang into a myriad of swirling colours.

Mercury had only been submerged in the memories for a short while, before Loivissa shifted her attention from the orb to his face. Now that she could study it closer, and without him staring back with those intense silver eyes, she could finally see that it was indeed a quite young face to look at.

There were no wrinkles, the skin was slightly pale but otherwise alright in its texture and colour, his nose was of an average size, but his mouth was set in a stern expression. The most prominent thing about Mercury' face was however his cheekbones, which were far more prominent than on any picture that Loivissa had ever seen.

His hair had a grey colour, which Loivissa had originally thought to be a dyed colour to disguise himself as an old man, but now that she could properly study it, she could see that it was not. As she followed the hair down his neck, she found that his ears were actually very slightly pointed.

They were not the pointy shape of an elf's ears, not even close to it, but neither were they as pointy as a regular human rider. The change between a regular human's ears and Mercury's were miniscule at best, but if you studied it closely enough, they were still there.

_I wonder how he got them?_, Loivissa mused, while continuing to otherwise study her newest companion's features, while he was busy going through his portion of memories for this time.

**Mercury's flashback(set right after the end of The beginning of the Shadow)**  
Mercury had just returned from saying goodbye to Kilgharrah. It had been quite an emotional moment for him, but he could not afford anyone to witness this side of him anymore. On the journey that he was about to embark on, emotions would only be a liability, so he schooled his features and pushed all memory of it away before he entered the hut that Orik used.

"_Did everything go well?_", Orik asked, as he entered.

"_Everything went according to plan. They have set sail to the east without any knowledge of what have transpired or what will soon transpire_", Mercury responded, before setting his gaze on the captured and unconscious assassins, of which only two still remained alive, "_only two?_"

"_The third managed to kill himself, before his mind could be conquered_", Orik responded with a small shrug, "_what will you do with them now?_"

"_Have them prepared for transport. I leave at first light_", Mercury simply said, but before he strode out of the hut, he laid a hand on Orik's shoulder and said, "_thank you for your and your kingdom's cooperation so far, but I believe this to be a matter for humans to solve. Any further intervention from other races will only help to further the Black Hand's propaganda about their cause being the liberation of humans from other species' control_".

"_I understand_", Orik said with a nod, before he in a brisk voice said, "_but if they as much as make a single transgression upon my people, then I will not hold back_".

Mercury stopped in the doorway and across his shoulder said, "_it would be a most foolish move to make. I am sure this was a onetime occurrence, which they only made because you were here anyway_".

A few hours later, dawn came, and Mercury had yet to sleep at all. He had been up since halfway through last night, so he was beginning to feel the strain of being awake, but he did not have time to sleep yet. There was simply too much to do, so after a short farewell with Orik, he left Hedarth with two horses, which he had bought shortly before his departure. The one he was riding on was a fiery red mare, while the one that was transporting the assassins, was a pale green grey gelding.

"Now I only need a black and a white horse, along with some riders to ride them", Mercury chuckled to himself while clapping the side of his horse.

It took most of the day to reach the place where Mercury intended to be, and during that time, he had been forced to put a spell on the assassins to keep them asleep. It would not do if they were to wake up and attack him from behind.

By the time he reached the remote and desolate hut, the sun had almost set, but this did not matter, as he would close the shutters, lock the door and soundproof the place with magic. Not that he expected anyone to ever come by, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once that was done, and once he had wolfed down a meal consisting of dried meat and some boiled roots, Mercury began tying one of the assassins to the table with numerous chains, and gagged the man with a piece of cloth, so that he could not speak any words of magic, if against expectations he managed to be coherent enough to do so.

The other assassin lay bound in the corner and was still under the spell of sleep, so Mercury did not pay him much mind, as he prepared the still sleeping assassin on the table.

When he was done, Mercury contemplated for a moment to simply step back and take a short nap before continuing, as he was indeed quite tired at this point, but at the same time he really wanted to get this done with. The longer he kept them alive, the greater the change that something would go wrong. Not to mention that this would actually prove to be more productive when he was tired, as that would mean a far greater challenge.

He then took a deep breath, before beginning his mental assault on the bound assassin, who Mercury had still not woken from his enchanted slumber, as he was unsure of how strong he was awake.

It was not that Mercury expected to be able to glean much information from the men's minds, as he was pretty sure that their superiors had considered the probability of their capture a high one, and therefore made sure to not expose them to anything compromising, but it would be a good way to train his mental attack skills, which he had found to be sorely lacking, as he had needed to distract the previous occupant of this table with torture to be able to break into his mind.

**Time skip(8 months later)**  
Mercury had in the past 7 months been associated with the newest spy network in Alagaësia, the imperial Green Wing, a name that had been mostly contributed from the pin that all official agents wore to fasten their cloaks.

The pin really did look like a pair green hawk wings, which were spread to either side, like it was just about to take off. The pin was only worn by the official agents that the public knew, as it would be too much of a giveaway to have all agents wear it at all times. Mercury had for example never worn one, as his involvement with the Green Wing was still kept quiet about, but it did help to take the mage's order off of his back.

The mage's order was another thing that Mercury had found to be an obstacle, as he, along with most of his colleagues at the Green Wing, was sure that the mage's order had been infiltrated by the Black Hand. Not that they could prove it, but they knew.

This had also meant that the Green Wing had had to secretly recruit its own mages from right under the nose of the mage's order, which could not under any circumstances to allowed to know that they even had them.

Usually, the Green Wing approached the mages at a time and place of their choosing, after which, if the interview was successful, the mage would be ordered to make a run for it and apparently go rogue. The Green Wing would then pick them up a little later, while continuing to leave false breadcrumbs for the mage's order to follow for a few years, before simply stopping. At least that was the current plan of action, as the organization had existed for less than a full year.

Mercury's case had been different, as he had not been approached by them, but had approached them himself. It had only been logical in Mercury's mind to band together with this group, whose sole purpose of creation had been the destruction of the Black Hand.

Currently, Mercury was located in the small town of Bullridge, where he had been staying for the past three days at the local inn. His current mission was to meet and escort an extremely important informant out of Bullridge and to a nearby safehouse.

His superiors had stressed that the target was of high value and that the chance that the Black Hand would intervene was high, so they had given him more than three quarters of the entire Green Wing's mages, along with a number of other agents, and told him to make sure that nothing would interfere with the meeting.

Personally, Mercury would have preferred to have been given only a fraction of those men, as it was far harder to remain inconspicuous when dealing with such a large amount of men. In Mercury's perception, stealth had been the better approach, but his superiors had overruled him.

That was also why he had waited in the inn for the past three days. Because he needed to get everyone into the town without arousing suspicion, he had been forced to let them arrive in small groups at various inns for the past two weeks.

"Ready to meet him?", Halin, a mage who Mercury had worked with extensively during the last 7 months, said.

Halin was of average height, had a set of dull blue eyes, brown wavy hair and was dressed in a tethered brown cloak that covered most of his upper and lower body. His personality was one of a quick wit and a friendly exterior to almost everyone, so he was quite well-liked by all and was often used to gain the confidence of a target.

"Let me just grab my cloak and I will be", Mercury responded, before he swiftly threw a tethered brown cloak over his shoulders, which was completely similar to Halin's.

On the way out, Halin casually said, "you know, I do not think that I will ever get used to you constantly changing your eye colour. Why brown this time?"

"Brown is a common eye colour that does not arouse much attention", Mercury simply stated as they left the inn and headed down through the dark side alleys.

If anyone were to notice them in the dark alley, they would surely have looked like two crooks on their way to commit a burglary, but it would be extremely unlikely that they were ever noticed in here, so that was why they had chosen to go this way.

Once they arrived near the market place, they stopped before entering, so that they were still well-hidden in the shadows, but could clearly see everything that went on out there.

"Are everyone in position?", Mercury silently asked Halin.

"Yes. Frederick and Minerva are playing the young couple gawking at jewellery, Martin is the beggar playing the banjo, Kiesel and Anya are planting flowers and the rest of the non-mages are guarding the entrances and exits, except for those whom you have chosen to guard the safehouse", Halin replied with a small sigh, "would you relax about this. It is going to be fine".

"I still have a bad feeling about this", Mercury quietly responded, "why would command have given me so many men for such a simple task, when only a fraction would do?"

"You and your bad feelings", Halin chuckled, "last time you had a bad feeling about something, it turned out to be one of our own agents that command had sent to provide further support".

"They never informed me of that", Mercury grunted, "have you heard anything about his condition?"

"They say he will live", Halin said in a slightly downcast voice, "though he might have quite a few scars after you mangled him. You really are too paranoid for your own good", the last bit was said in a teasing voice.

"Me too paranoid? You have got to be joking", Mercury replied in a half serious half witty voice, before continuing in a fully serious voice, "you can never be too careful when doing this".

"Perhaps, but-", Halin started to say, but was cut off by Mercury saying, "I see the target".

With a quick nod, they both left the alley and went into the marketplace. Despite their target being a stationary old man, who was waiting near the well, they did not take the direct route, but instead split up and took a few turns to nearby stalls and merchants, before converging on the man from either side at the same time.

"Are you with the-", the old man started to say, but was interrupted by Halin hissing, "do not discuss this out here in the open".

"I understand", the old man replied in a low voice, "what shall I do now?"

"We will escort you out, but first you must take a sip from the well", Mercury said, "further communication is unnecessary at the current time".

The old man did as he was told after a little hesitation, after which he looked up at Mercury and nodded that he understood. They were just about to leave the well, when the old man suddenly said, "wait I forgot my cane".

He turned around to grab it, but the second he did so, a crossbow bolt tore through his throat. Gurgling, he began to fall to the ground.

"Bloody –", Halin managed to stutter out, before a bolt similarly tore through the back of his skull.

Mercury only just managed to twist around, so that the bolt headed for his heart ended up tearing clean through his left shoulder instead, which immediately made him stumble to the ground. On the way down, he only just manage to notice Frederick and Minerva being stabbed from behind by the merchant that they had been talking to, before screams erupted from everywhere around the crowd.

_Why did none of our wards shield us?_, Mercury thought to himself, as he tried to not get trampled to death by the panicking mob. The answer was soon to be found, when he broke the bolt into two, so that he could pull the end with the tip out without having it tear up the wound, _enchanted tips, I should have known_.

Mercury quickly used his magic to seal the wound, not repair it, as it would have taken more energy than he could afford to spare at the current time, but simply sealing it, so that he did not bleed to death. He then did the only thing that he could think of, while he absentmindedly noted that Anya's body lay dead on the ground too.

He jumped down into the well that he had just been at, despite there being no stairs or ladders to help him get up and at least a five metre drop until the water came. Well, jumped might have been a bit of an exaggeration, as it was little more than a simple stumble down into the well with his back first.

He hit the water with a splash, but otherwise remained relatively unharmed by the impact, which he hoped had gone unnoticed by anyone, because of the panicking mob up there, whose screams he could still hear.

Mercury ended up threading water for nearly five hours, before the night fell and quietness once again reigned. He then used magic to tip the bucket into the well, so that he, after he had rolled down all of the rope, could climb up from the well.

The climb up would normally have been no problem whatsoever for Mercury, but his slight hypothermia from being in the cold water for so long, his exhaustion for treading water for so long combined with his injured shoulder made the task into a grizzling teeth grinding challenge.

Eventually, Mercury made it to the top, where the first thing he noted was the 37 wooden caskets lying on the ground in the empty marketplace. 37 caskets for the 37 agents that Mercury had led here.

Mercury knew that they had been betrayed, it had only been too clear, but the fact that there was exactly 37 caskets meant that whoever had betrayed them had known completely where everyone were and how they looked, a fact known only to those now present in the marketplace and command.

If it had been one of those that he had led, then there would have been fewer caskets, perhaps a few gravely injured persons, so as to make up believable excuses, but there were none, so the perpetrator would have to have been from command.

This proved to be another problem for Mercury, as two out of the three persons in command had known about this, which meant that command itself had fallen to infiltration. Another implication of this meant that since Mercury's body had not been among the dead, he would now easily be played as the traitor by one or both of command to the rest of the Green Wing, if he returned to them.

Mercury did not have time to wonder about this though, as he first needed to get out of Bullridge without being detected by the sentries and watchdogs that he was sure had quarantined the entirety of Bullridge already.

An idea quickly sprang to mind, so when Mercury had familiarized himself with the night watchman's route, and how long it would take before he returned to the marketplace, Mercury quickly opened up a casket, took the body, who he recognized as Halin's, _sorry about this_, and used magic to burn the body's face away, along with any other distinctive features that could identify him.

Luckily, since it was Halin's body, Mercury would not need to give him his cloak, as they had worn identical ones. Mercury then planted a spare shuriken in Halin's boot, so that the body would be identified as his own when it was discovered, before he bound Halin's feet to the bucket and dumped him down the well.

The binding of his feet to the bucket would make sure that the body would not be down there for too long, and thereby prevent the spreading of any diseases, but his body would remain unnoticed for a while, which was all Mercury needed, as he was sure that the caskets were being led out of Bullridge this morning.

Mercury then took Halin's place in the casket, before closing the lid and putting the nails back in place with magic. He was sure that no one would think to look into the caskets again, especially with the nails still in place, so he began to do the one thing that he could think of; planning what to do next.

Mercury knew that now that command had proven to be corrupted, he could not count upon the support of any intelligence or military support from the Empire or Surda, so he would just have to create an organization himself. A task which would be much easier once he had officially been declared as amongst the dead, although he was unsure of for how long it would last before anyone figured it out.

The organization would need to be extremely low-profile, both to avoid detection by the Black Hand and the Green Wing, and it would probably need to be funded on a tight budget until he could get something up and running.

More importantly than this though, he would need to find a way to take out the two involved from command, so that the Green Wing would not completely be overtaken by the Black Hand. Yes, he would probably weaken and cripple the Green Wing for quite a while, but it would be better than having them being led by the Black Hand.

This scheming went on through much of the night, before he finally succumbed to sleep, but was woken shortly after, when he felt his casket being moved.

Six months later, the stone building that two of the Green Wing's commanders were residing in would collapse. The official explanation had stated it as an accident, due to poor maintenance and bad timing on the commanders' part.  
**End of Mercury's flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV again**

Loivissa noticed the colouring subsiding from the orb, after having stared at it for the better part of an hour, before Mercury's eyes flashed open a second later. For a moment, he looked like he was frowning, before his facial features once again returned to the calm exterior that they had had during most of their trip.

"So…what was it like?", Loivissa asked curiously.

"…Remarkable", Mercury said in an intrigued voice, which she had never heard from him before, "how long was I out?"

"The better part of two hours", Loivissa answered, "Kilgharrah and Adûn made it back an hour and a half ago, so we can leave whenever you are ready for it. Do you need time to rest or…?"

"No, I am quite fine, let us just leave now", Mercury responded before scooping up his backpack and heading over to Kilgharrah.

Loivissa copied him soon after, except that she headed over to Adûn, while mentally saying to him, _do you think he will tell us what happened? He looked quite upset when he emerged_.

_My first response would be no, but after talking to Kilgharrah, I have learned that you might get him to do so if you can offer him something in return_, Adûn responded, _it must be something that he considers just as valuable, but I cannot think of anything yet_.

_You mean I should barter with him?_, Loivissa asked confused, _why?_

_According to Kilgharrah, Mercury considers most things, even sharing stories of memories, to be negotiable objects of desire from one person to another, although his sense of payment hardly ever coincides with most people's sense of payment, meaning that he hardly ever considers gold to be of much value_.

_Good, because I forgot the coin bag in Estildirin_, Loivissa responded.

_You left the spare gold that the riders ALWAYS makes sure to have when going to Alagaësia?_, Adûn said baffled, _you better hope that we do not get a need for it then_.

_I know_, Loivissa timidly said, before they continued to discuss what Mercury could possibly be interested in, as payment for sharing his memories.

The rest of the day remained uneventful, and when night came, they again quickly decided to land and set up a camp. Mercury chose to cook dinner again, a choice that Loivissa was more than happy with, as she did not think that she could make it taste even half as good as him, while Loivissa filled their waterskins and prepared camp.

It was not until after dinner that Loivissa said something other than work-related to Mercury, "I have been thinking and…what-could-I-offer-as-payment-for-hearing-what-happened-in-your-memories".

Mercury blinked once in confusion, before he considered her for a while. The silence that ensued was stifling, and Loivissa almost thought that he would not answer, before he asked, "how much of the Rimgar do you know?"

"All four levels, why?", Loivissa asked confused.

"Then I will make you this deal; every morning, you are to introduce me to the fourth level until I have memorized the steps, and in return I will tell you the sum of what I have learned so far", Mercury proposed, which Loivissa quickly accepted, as she thought it a cheap bargain, but then again, Adûn had said that Mercury had a strange sense of value.

During the next two hours, Mercury summarized to Loivissa what had happened so far, although she noted that he left out quite a lot of details, and probably all of the gore as well, as he would simply say, if some description were necessary, that a person died. He recounted what happened immediately after father, mother and Kilgharrah left Alagaësia, then what happened during his time as a Green Wing agent, right up until they were betrayed. After that, he weakly recounted that he removed the traitor that he had found, and started building his own organization.

Loivissa did not really learn much new from his tale, as most were already pretty well known, especially the Disaster of Bullridge, which had been the first time that Mercury had officially been declared dead, although later declarations would show that Mercury had a tendency to fake his own death. This was why there were so many commoners these days that believed him to be an undead soul, which was incapable of dying.

Soon after he was done, they both went to bed, although Loivissa now knew that he would only do so for a few hours.


	15. Of hares and families

I have been notified that it would be a good idea to have something hug-able close by before you start reading this chapter, so prepare and enjoy...and please please please do not lynch me.

Also, this chapter is up earlier because I am unsure of whether I would have internet access during the next week, so you will just have to live with a little longer waiting period between this one and the next.

* * *

**Of hares and families**

**Loivissa POV  
**A little week had gone by without much change to what had now become their usual schedule. Loivissa would wake up in the morning to find Mercury either sitting in a tree, while reading his book, or if there were no trees, he would use his backpack to lean at.

When she would wake, he would already have breakfast ready, and at dinner he would do the cooking, although he had begun to teach her why he added such and such things and for how long it would need to be roasted or boiled to get the right consistency and flavour.

So far, their meals had all been vegetarian. A fact that Loivissa had been most grateful for, as she had never in her entire life killed anything, or even eaten meat. Loivissa however suspected that most of the cause behind the vegetarian diet had been because they had only brought fruits, vegetables and such things as provisions.

Mercury had been a quick learner of the fourth level of Rimgar, although he could not do even a third of the actual exercises, he had still memorized every single one. Despite him already knowing what to do, they had continued on doing the exercises every morning together, as they, to Loivissa at least, had proven to be quite enjoyable times, where the silence that so often befell them did not matter.

As Loivissa had come to find, Mercury had only bargained the learning of the fourth level of Rimgar for the first sharing of memories, although in hindsight she should have known. When she had approached him a second time for what he would want in return, his response had left her more startled than ever.

As payment for him sharing his memories, she would have to share some of her own, as he had reasoned that it only seemed fair for her to do so, after which he had added a silent, "quid pro quo", which Loivissa had still not figured out what meant. He had also added that there were still certain things in his memories that he would not share, as he deemed it better for the world to not know of it at all.

Loivissa had originally thought that he would request stories of her training as a rider or something along those lines, but when she had refused to share those, as they were supposed to be secret from everyone from outside the dragon riders, he had merely laughed at her and said that that was hardly what he had in mind.

He had then asked for her to tell him a story of how her childhood had been. Has she had any friends? What would they play, and had they ever pulled pranks on anyone? Had she had nicknames? Occasionally there would be a few questions about her brother, although they were rare and far in between, and never seemed like more than questions to add depth to her own story.

Loivissa had been a little uneasy at first to share them, as they were quite personal and she felt unsure as to why Mercury would want to know, but in time, she had learned to simply accept it as another of Mercury's oddities, and when she first got going, it really did not feel so weird talking about her childhood. It felt almost like reminiscing on it with an old friend.

Loivissa had at one time mentioned that after she had been caught red-handed when she was still quite young, her father had tried to scold her, but had been unsuccessful to keep it up, as she had looked so sad. He had then scooped her up and told her that if she promised not to do it again, he would tell her mother that she had already been punished for her misdeeds, but it would have to be their little secret.

After recounting the story, Loivissa had chuckled lightly and mentioned that it had only taken half a day before her mother had found out, but she had then been subdued by her father's antics. When Loivissa had noted that Mercury had merely politely smiled at the story, she had asked him whether his parents had never done such things, to which he had curtly replied in a neutral voice that his parents had died before he had turned four, so he remembered very little of them.

Loivissa had after that chosen to not approach the subject again, although the small bit of information did give her the idea that perhaps Mercury liked to hear the stories because he never got to have it himself.

Pushing her thoughts aside, Loivissa finally emerged from the dream-like trance. Before she even awoke, she could tell that the sun would rise in just a few minutes. Loivissa did not open her eyes, as she sat up from her bedroll and began to stretch and roll her shoulders.

After rubbing her eyes to get some sleep out of them, she cranked her head towards the tree, where she expected to find Mercury reading as usual, only to find that he was not there. Puzzled, she looked around the camp and found Mercury sitting near the edge of it.

With her elven vision, she could in clear detail see that Mercury was skinning a hare with his hunting knife. She quickly turned her head away at the sight, although she had seen Adûn kill his prey before, it never became any easier to witness.

"Why did you kill that poor creature?", Loivissa asked across the camp with a bit of accusation in her voice, "we still have provisions, so there was no need for it to die".

Mercury looked up from his task with a slightly puzzled look, before he schooled his features into the usual neutral ones that he often wore, and said, "the provisions will not even last another three days if we both continue eating them, and as Hedarth is approximately a week away, I thought that I would save you from the trouble of having to begin eating meat, by supplementing my own diet with whatever wildlife I can find. The only reason that I did not do this earlier was to be polite to your customs".

Loivissa blushed slightly at his, although rather well hidden within his scolding, consideration that she had never had meat before, and in an effort to change the subject to something slightly different, she remarked, "I cannot see a hole from the arrow on it?".

"Well, that is because I did not kill it with a bow and arrow", Mercury merely replied, as if that was the most natural thing in the world, "in fact, I believe that I would be more successful with just the arrow or the bow separately than together, as I really never have been able to hit something with a bow".

"Why then bring them? I thought that it might have been for defence or hunting, but if you say that you cannot even use them, then…", Loivissa said puzzled.

"Their uses will either become apparent later on or they will not", Mercury replied with a very small grin, "it entirely depends upon what will or will not happen".

_What do you make of this Adûn?_, Loivissa questioned her partner of mind and heart.

_That he will show you why he brought them if the need becomes apparent, but that he does not know whether it will_, Adûn replied in a wise voice, _do not dwell on it too much dear, I am sure that his reasons will either be justified when the time comes, or they will just add to his general strange attitude_.

_You are right of course_, Loivissa replied back and sent waves of gratitude and love through their bond.

Soon after that, Mercury and Loivissa did their exercises as usual, before they both ate breakfast, which for both of them entirely consisted of fruits and vegetables, as Mercury had reasoned that he would need a little longer to prepare to hare, so he could not eat it before dinner, but he would then save the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

Loivissa nodded at this, simply glad that she was not supposed to eat the hare, before a thought struck her, which had been nagging at her slightly ever since she had first woken up and found Mercury reading in a tree.

"What book is it?", Loivissa asked, which made Mercury cock his eyebrow in confusion, before she clarified, "that one that you are always reading when I wake up".

"Arhh, that one. It is a collection of old dwarven children stories and folktales", Mercury explained, "I do not believe it has a name, as it was I who gathered them all into that single volume from their numerous other books, although I kept the stories written in dwarfish, as they lose something if you completely translate them".

"You can read dwarfish that fluently?", Loivissa asked slightly surprised.

"Yes, I thought that it was pretty common knowledge that I learned the language from the late King Orik?", Mercury said in a curious voice.

"Not really", Loivissa replied, before slightly excitedly continuing, "what other languages do you know? How about the Ancient language or perhaps you could explain to me where that 'quid pro quo' comes from and what it means".

Mercury took a deep breath, before he in a matter-of-fact voice said, "I know the Ancient language and its alphabet well enough to understand the meaning of a sentence and construct an answer, but I am in no way fluent in it. I also know some of the urgalgra's language, but my teachings were cut short because of this", at this he gave a small outwards wave of his hand, "I furthermore know two other languages, which Alagaësia as a whole does not, but I fear that I have become quite rusty in both, and finally there is the part about quid pro quo. It stems from a third language, which I do not know more of than a few phrases of, and it is generally translated into: something for something".

"I see", Loivissa said, as she mulled it over, "how come you started on learning the urgals' language when you have yet to master the Ancient?"

"Although the Ancient language has some quite appealing qualities, I never found the desire to learn it any further than what would be needed for me to get around, as most people who know the Ancient language also know a second more common language, but very few of the urgalgras knows any other language than their own, so it was needed for me to learn it, if I were to frequently traverse the Spine, which they mostly control", Mercury explained.

"Why were you frequenting the Spine?", Loivissa asked.

"I have…had a project there, but let us not talk further of this, as the day already grows late, and I have still not had my session, so that we may depart", Mercury responded in a slightly brisk tone, which Loivissa found to be his way of telling her that he did not want to discuss that particular issue any further.

Soon Mercury was once again emerged in his memories, while Loivissa was free to let her mind wander, which led her to puzzle over everything Mercury had said so far.

**Mercury's flashback(roughly 8 years into the war)  
**It had been almost six and a half years since Mercury had arranged for the deaths of two thirds of the command of the Green Wing. As expected, this had thrown the Green Wing into chaos, although it seemed to have stabilized somewhat over the last two years.

Mercury still did not trust anyone from the Green Wing, especially those mages that were not selected for his fateful last mission, since they seemed to have actually gained in rank because of that. He did not have enough evidence to prove anything, so having them arrested by anonymously donating such non-existent information to the royal court would not do, and since he was unsure of exactly who and how many of them might be spies, he could not just kill them all. That would create more confusion, fear and chaos than it would solve.

Still, it was not like he could not say that he had not benefitted from the Green Wing's disarray either, as he had used it to get his organization up and running.

Mercury's organization had no name, did not have an official or even unofficial headquarters, was not actively recruiting people and most importantly was almost completely unnoticed by the public and the nobility.

Almost all of the people associated with it did not even know what it was, as Mercury had used whatever means necessary to convince his various informants to report to him. In some cases, it entailed that the informants thought that they were aiding the Green Wing, while in others they simply did not care who the information got to, as long as their payments were on time. A few even thought that they were aiding the Black Hand.

Mercury had even managed to infiltrate some of the Black Hand's most important informants, so that he knew exactly what information was being given on and had the chance to correct anything too damaging. It had actually proved to be simpler than Mercury had expected to infiltrate them, as all he had needed to do was to stalk his candidates for long enough to notice that they would always give their information at a random dead drop, where they also received their payment and the location and time for the next drop.

After that it had only been too easy to get to the next dead drop and wait for the Black Hand operative to plant the note and gold, which Mercury had then read, altered, so that the next drop would be a few days later than the Black Hand thought, and then put the note back into the drop, so that it would not seem suspicious.

This had ensured that Mercury now had a two to three day time span in which he could order some subordinate to get a copy and alter what needed to be altered, without drawing too much attention to it.

Mercury had been anxious to let anyone else do this, but had been forced to recognize that he could not be in all places at once, but that still did not mean that he completely trusted the people that he sent to pick them up, as he would occasionally check up on them to see whether they were doing the same to him, as he did to the Black Hand.

Despite Mercury still being officially dead, he had still been subjugated to no less than four different assassination attempts during the last six months, and had as a precaution decided never to stop anywhere for too long.

In fact as of now, he had 14 different secret homes spread out across Alagaësia, which he had personally inspected and improved the security on. Not a single soul from his own organization knew of even one of them, and Mercury would never stay at any one place for more than two weeks' time, after which he would not return to the place for at least half a year to a year.

Since Mercury had personally installed most of the security in the homes, he had very occasionally come back to one, only to find that some burglar or homeless person had tried and succeeded in entering the house, but had failed to be able to leave again. Cleaning up their remains always was such a chore to do.

Whenever Mercury had gathered enough intelligence to hit some stronghold or estate, which was in some way aiding or housing the Black Hand, he would hire sell-swords to assist him, and they were almost never the same, as he had used previously.

The sell-swords would not be told of where or what they would be doing, or who they would be doing it for, right up until it was too late for them to sell him out to the Black Hand, and he would almost never use the same men twice, but the offer of gold made most of them not care about these things.

With assassins, the story was a slightly different one, as Mercury had become quite a frequented user of the assassins' guild, which he employed for less important hits. Mercury would still take care of all really important or extremely difficult hits, as he needed these to be done exactly in accordance with an already specified plan.

Mercury had also become a standard customer among many of the thieves' guild's fences, where he would sell whatever he managed to loot off of the strongholds and estates that he hit. It was this flow of money that had originally paid for everything, although these days, it merely supplemented his income.

His new more permanent source of income was several businesses in various cities spread around the Empire and Surda, which Mercury had used the money from the fences to buy out, although some had had to be persuaded a little to let go of their business.

Mercury had then installed straw men in each of the businesses to take care of the day to day work, while he would receive a percentage of the surplus, along with the annual account, via drop sites. Mercury would use most of the money gained from this to pay off his informants, subordinates, assassins and so on, but would save a small amount each time as an insurance that he always had more money if worse came to worse.

The rest of the money would then go the projects treasury, where he would store the money used for his various projects, such as real estates, construction costs, special weapons orders and so on.

His favourite long distance weapon was now the crossbow, as it was easy to use, could be rigged to fire semi automatically and was quite precise. He had even begun carrying around a small single hand crossbow at the back of his belt, besides the shurikens that he always stored in his boots.

Mercury had found that when breaking and entering a house, you could use the small crossbow much like you would a gun, with it resting on his left arm to gain balance and steadiness, while he had a short dagger in his left hand that would be ready to kill anyone that got too near. His usual weapons were simply not designed with that sort of environment in mind, but they were still the ones that he preferred if the environment allowed it.

Speaking of breaking and entering; Mercury was currently sneaking through the estate of a noble, which Mercury very highly suspected of aiding the Black Hand, although he could not prove it.

The guards already lay dead outside, but no one had managed to raise the alarm, so the staff and the noble family were still asleep.

Mercury knew that it would be quite difficult for the noble to tell him anything, as he had come to learn that most of the Black Hand had forced their followers and members to swear themselves to secrecy and loyalty in the Ancient language, which was why he preferred to manipulate the members into believing that they were aiding the Black Hand, but this time, he needed to do things differently, which required a bit more preparation, before he would wake the sleeping lord and his wife.

Nearly half an hour later, Mercury was done with the preparations and moved into the master bedroom without making a single sound. He then woke the lord, but put a hand on his mouth to silence him, along with a knife to his throat to make him compliant.

After ensuring the lord that it would be in his best interest to not scream for help or make any rash moves, Mercury had him wake up his wife, before he guided them to another room at knifepoint.

When they got into the darkened room, which Mercury had soundproofed earlier, the lady burst out saying, "what are you doing here? If it is money that you want, then we can pay you handsomely if you let us and our family be".

Mercury chuckled a bit at this, before he said, "oh lady Shippen, if I was simply after money, I would have robbed you blind already, without having to resort to waking you. No, what I want is information from your husband. Information about who he is aiding and how".

Mercury could see the general confusion in the lady's eyes, but it did not matter in the end, as the lord was quick to deny any such affiliations.

This made Mercury sigh, before he said, "I really wished that I would not have to do this, but I see there is no other way for you to be cooperative. If you would please take a look at the ceiling, you should note that your son and two daughters are hanging there. Please pay particular attention to the noose around their neck and the fact that they are only still alive because a small thread is tying their arms and legs to the ceiling, so that they do not hang immediately. I can cut this thread with a single thought, so please answer my question truthfully this time".

"YOU COWARD!", the lady Shippen shouted and lounged at Mercury, who nimbly dodged and merely pointed to the ceiling.

Lady Shippen stopped her attack immediately after this and instead descended into a sobbing form. Mercury then shifted his gaze towards the lord, who looked up at his gagged and sobbing children with an intense level of despair in his eyes.

For a long while, the lord did nothing, and Mercury began to wonder if the situation was not extreme enough to force him to change his true name, so that he could give up the information that he wanted from him, but eventually the lord succumbed and in a broken voice explained exactly what Mercury wanted to know.

_Well, changed true name or broken true name, it still gives me what I need_, Mercury mused to himself, before quickly cutting the lord's throat with a single clean sweep of his dagger.

This action made the lady Shippen sob even louder, although she was still only able to sit on the floor. Mercury then drew his handheld crossbow and went forth to her sobbing form, while pointing the bolt directly at her heart.

At this she looked up into his eyes with a completely desolate look, before she in a broken sobbing voice said, "please, have mercy on my children, they have done no harm".

Mercury coolly stared back at her, before he in a level voice said, "this night will haunt them for the rest of their lives. They will forever hate me and seek to destroy anything that I have tried to create. I do not believe in letting such potential adversaries live, so that they may come back when they are stronger", before he pulled the trigger and sent the bolt directly into her heart.

Mercury then took out the bolt from her corpse, while absentmindedly noting the very increased sobbing of the children, before he swiped the blood and gore on it off with her nightgown and opened the door to leave. As he stood upon the threshold of the door, he mentally steeled himself by reciting that the children would probably have ended up chasing him with a zeal unlike any other, before closing it and then cutting the threads around the children's arms and legs with a single burst of magic.  
**End of Mercury's flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV again**

When Mercury emerged again, he seemed just like his usual self when emerging from the memories, so Loivissa paid no mind to it and suggested that they leave soon, which he quickly agreed to.

They did not talk much during the flight, only exchanging various riddles once in a while, although Mercury for the most part kept out of the riddle games of the dragons, but that was not unusual either, as he, aside from that first time, almost never said more than a few words when Kilgharrah relented during the games.

It was not until they were having dinner, with Mercury eating a stew of some of the hare, while he had made a salad for Loivissa, that Loivissa could not contain her question any longer.

The question was one that had bugged her almost ever since his first sharing of what had happened during the Shadow War, and it had only been intensified during this morning's encounter and later at dinner.

"What is it like? Killing people I mean", Loivissa tentatively asked.

Mercury looked up from his stew and met her gaze, studied it for a while, before he said, "why do you ask me that? Surely you do realize that your father and mother killed quite a lot of people during their war as well?"

"I never actually thought about them in such a way", Loivissa answered slightly flustered, "I was just curious since I have never even killed an animal, and as a dragon rider, I might have to kill someone at some point, so I would like to know what it feels like and such".

"You do not think of your parents like that, but me on the other hand-", Mercury started to say, but was interrupted by a very flustered Loivissa saying, "no, no, it is not like that…well perhaps a bit, but-"

She was then cut off by Mercury waving his hand, while wearing a tired smile, as he said, "it is okay, I understand. Killing is…killing is, I suppose, different from one person to another. Some find it easy and never see the faces of those they kill, while others, such as your father, remember them with bile in their throats. You can never really know what your reaction will be before you actually have done the deed. It is slightly like the first time you mate, I suppose. You have mated before have you not? I mean, you are what, 80, 90, so surely you must have? Forgive me for not knowing your precise age, but I was previously never that interested in you and I only remember your approximate birth date because it coincides within the final years of the Shadow War".

It took all of Loivissa's willpower not to hide her face in embarrassment, but she could not stop the very clear blushing from entering her cheeks, before she meekly nodded and said, "I am 97".

Mercury clearly understood her nod as her confirmation to his question, as he said, "good, then you will know what I refer to. When you mate for the first time, you may have an idea of what will happen, but you will ultimately not truly know before it has happened. Your first kill is much the same, although I suppose that most people would not consider hunting as their first kill".

Mercury's quite indifferent talk about mating had made Loivissa more than a little uneasy, so she quickly thanked him for sharing, before she excused herself to go to bed.

Mercury followed her example a second later, and when they both lay at each side of the campfire, he made one final remark before drifting off, "I do not know whether anyone has ever told you this, but you have your grandmother's eyes, and I do not mean your paternal one".

"Thanks", Loivissa muttered feeling both quite proud that she would be compared to her grandmother Islanzadi, and confused that Mercury apparently had known his grandmother well enough to notice the similarities.

* * *

I have considered a little game for you readers to play, which, if you should win it, would be rewarded by three whole free questions about my plans for the future of this series or just about the current part of it, although any questions concerning the future series may be changed as I have not yet fully settled on everything to happen yet(and sorry RoguesMum, you cannot play since you already know). The game is simple: whoever first guesses where I have hidden Mercury's armoury shall win the prize, although if no one guesses it before the chapter that reveals it is up, then the game is forfeit. So, good luck everyone.


	16. A new outlook

To Guest: No, not Helgrind either. Although, how were you ever supposed to receive the prize if it had been?

* * *

**A new outlook**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa was sitting on the ground directly across from Mercury, while they both looked intensely at each other.

It had only been two days since Loivissa had first asked Mercury about killing, which she in the meantime had made sure never to bring up again for fear that he might begin to compare it to mating again, but something else had continued to bug her ever since that day.

It was not the fact that Mercury's meals now consisted mostly of meat or the fact that he killed wildlife to acquire it, although he had made sure to be done with the skinning before she would wake up. No, what bugged her was his nonchalant comment about how he had absolutely no skills with the bow that he had brought with him.

It was not so much the fact that he did not excel in archery, as she did, in fact she found it rather comforting to know. No, it was more the fact that he had brought absolutely no other weapons with him from Estildirin. Loivissa did not count a hunting knife as a viable weapon.

She knew that he had magic at his disposal, but they were supposed to remain as incognito as possible, and usage of magic would definitely not be discreet, which she assumed that Mercury knew as well, so for the past two days, she had pondered over this.

She, with quite a lot of prodding and encouragement from Adûn, had decided that today would be the day when she finally confronted him about what would happen if they were to run into bandits on their way, which was why she had not immediately handed over the memory orb after their usual morning routine, as had become the custom, and which was why she was currently sitting across from Mercury, while trying to win the silent stare contest.

"What is it?", Mercury finally asked, after what seemed like hours, although it was probably closer to minutes since her initial rebuttal of his request for the orb.

"I want to know something", Loivissa said in as stern a voice as she could muster, "and I want you to answer completely truthfully or not at all".

Mercury dipped his head slightly in recognition of her request, before she continued, "the day before yesterday, you said that you had absolutely no skills with a bow", which was met with another small dip of his head, "and I have been wondering about that ever since then. If we were to be ambushed by bandits, how would you defend yourself without a weapon? Remember that we are not supposed to use magic, so as to remain as unnoticed as possible".

Mercury regarded her for a while, in which she almost believed that he had chosen not to answer, before he in a calm and casual voice said, "I believe that that role would actually fall to you, as the entire reason behind your accompanying me was to guard me".

Loivissa gasped at his answer, actually gasped, which was something her mother had made sure to drill out of her as a child, as she had said that it was both impolite and showed too much of how surprised she was to the people around her.

To think that he would dare to imply that if they were attacked, she would have to do all the work of fending them off! If that was how he thought it would be, then he would be in for a rude awakening, for there was no way she would allow that.

Not only would she have to be focused on her foes during battle, but on him as well, which was unacceptable. Plus, she might get too caught up in fighting one foe to realize that another could have snuck behind her and attacked him.

With a voice, which she had only barely managed to keep her emotions from interfering with, she said, "if we run into bandits, I fully expect you to help me fend them off, or at least to be able to defend yourself, so that my focus does not have to be split between watching you and duelling them".

"Oh, do not worry, I am fully capable of dealing with any and all bandits who gets past you", Mercury simply said, "in fact, I believe that of the two of us, the bandits would probably have the hardest time dealing with me".

"How so?", Loivissa demanded, "you do not even have a weapon to block or strike with, yet you still believe that you are more competent than me?"

"Which is why the bandits would have a harder time of dealing with me", Mercury said with his lips slightly curved up into a smile, the first genuine smile Loivissa had ever seen on him, "it is also part of the reason of why I brought the bow along. You see, bandits believe that if their opponent only has a bow, then they simply need to get in close to win, but that is where their error is, as that is where I have the advantage over them. The reason, why I believe the bandits would have a harder time dealing with me, is because they would not know what to expect and would most probably underestimate me".

"You mean to think that you could take on an armed warrior with only your fists as weapons?", Loivissa snorted.

"I could take you on right now", Mercury said in a voice that did not seem like boasting, merely like stating a fact.

"I cannot let that go unanswered", Loivissa said and rose from her position, which Mercury swiftly followed her in doing, before she blocked the edge of her sword and said, "know that I will not hold anything back".

"The same goes for me", Mercury responded as he fiddled slightly with the fastening to his almost black cloak, before he apparently decided to leave it on, something Loivissa would never have done, as the cloak would have slowed her down and possibly gotten in her way.

Loivissa held her sea-blue coloured rider sword in both her hands, as she stood directly across from Mercury and debated on how to proceed. Obliviously, she could not swing at her hardest, as that would probably crack a few of his bones or worse, but neither could she slow her pace, as his earlier confidence had unnerved her a little.

In the end, she ended up performing a strike from her upper right to her lower left, so that when-, if it hit, only Mercury's collarbone would be damaged, which was easily repaired with magic.

Even before she had fully begun her swing, Loivissa knew that something was wrong, as Mercury had already begun to move, but it was too late to stop the attack.

In an amazing feat of agility, Mercury managed bend over backwards enough to allow her swing to pass him unscathed, but what she had not expected was that during the time the sword passed over his body, he used the momentum of getting down to twist his body into a full spin to the left, which made sure that his left foot connected nice and easily enough with her own undefended legs.

The sudden turn from defence to attack had taken Loivissa completely by surprise, so when Mercury gestured for her to get up from the ground again, she did so quite a lot more warily.

In her next attack, she feinted a slash towards his legs, but changed it so that it would hit his stomach if he tried to jump to avoid the feint, as she suspected that he would try.

Mercury did not fall for the ruse however, but instead of backing away, he simply jumped and rolled sideways on top of her sword, while it cut through the air, and by using his cloak to both fasten his hold on her blade and avoid actually touching the metal with his hands, he managed to rip it out of her hands by using her surprise at the situation and his own body weight to his advantage.

Loivissa's surprise was indeed great when she was suddenly confronted with her own sword pointed against her, but to her surprise, Mercury merely tossed it, along with his cloak, which had mostly been wrapped around the sword, a little away and in a voice, which reminded her so much of her ebrithilar's, said, "your sword has been taken from you. Now what do you do?"

Loivissa lunged for him with all her speed and strength, but yet again, Mercury seemed to have anticipated her actions and easily sidestepped her. The fight continued on like this for a while, and despite Mercury lacking severely behind Loivissa in regards to speed and strength, he still seemed to come out on top nearly every time.

Loivissa had to admit that Mercury's movements looked very fluent, but they were not always graceful. At times, it almost looked like he was dancing a delicate but complicated dance, but then he would suddenly change and the dance would become something much more blunt and deadly, which was often when she would end up with a new bruise to add to her already impressive collection.

Loivissa had never actually been in a fist fight before, as that was not something that was taught among the riders. Although she had witnessed a few of the urgal riders during a wrestling duel, but their fight had been much different than this, as it had been more about strength and speed, which was why she had been arrogant enough to believe that she could take on any human, dwarven or urgal opponent in hand-to-hand combat.

That belief had been shattered during the last ten minutes, as she had discovered that Mercury's way of fighting varied greatly from the urgals'. With him, it seemed like each strike and each dodge was carefully planned and executed according to a greater plan, and no matter how Loivissa tried to change strategies or engage him differently, she would still fall victim to that plan.

No, she decided, this could not continue this way if she were to win, although she believed that she would have already lost if it had been a real fight. She desperately scanned the area for something that could turn the fight around, when her eyes fell upon her discarded sword, which still had Mercury's cloak around it.

_Now, if I can only get him to let me over there, then I can end the fight with my sword_, Loivissa thought, before an idea popped into her head.

During the fight, whenever she had tried to attack him from the left side, he would always end up throwing her to the right, so if she could manage it so that she ended up near her sword, then she could surprise him when he went in for the 'kill'.

Sure enough, after what had on her part seemed like a genuine attack to surprise him by redoing an already tried and failed tactic, he eventually ended up throwing her to the right, where she just managed to grab the hilt of her sword under his cloak with her right hand.

When Mercury neared her downed form, she suddenly lunged forward with her sword, so that if it had not had its edge blocked, it would have cut through his chest, but to her surprise, Mercury had already sidestepped her action before she had even gotten the sword out from under the cloak.

He then grabbed hold of her right hand, which was still holding unto her sword, with his left hand and pulled it forward while his right hand grabbed hold of her throat and pushed it back, while he somehow managed to sneak his right foot behind her legs, so that she fell awkwardly backwards.

She ended up being in a state halfway between standing up and lying down, with only Mercury keeping her from falling the last bit to the earth by holding her up, although he had since moved his hand from a choking position on her throat to a supporting position behind her neck.

Their bodies were thoroughly entangled within each other and their faces were mere centimetres apart. Loivissa did not know why, but it suddenly seemed terribly hot and her mind was completely blank, as she continued to gaze into Mercury's silver eyes.

After an eternity, or perhaps just a fraction of a second, Mercury broke the moment by gently hoisting her back up on her feet, while he in the same teaching voice said, "excellent improvisation and adaptation, but your general form is severely lacking".

"Yet you still beat me", Loivissa said as she shook herself out of her daze, "even with my sword back and the element of surprise, you still beat me".

"There was never an element of surprise", Mercury confessed, "I had hoped that you would pick up on my habit of throwing you to the right in order to regain your sword".

Loivissa chuckled a bit at this, before she burst out into full blown laughter, which Mercury seemed to regard with intrigue, but he never said anything, there was no need after all.

Eventually her laughter died down to a small chuckle, before she explained herself, "I think you may have been right in saying that you were the bigger threat. I mean, if I was defeated without you using any weapons, then the bandits stand no chance against you".

"Do NOT underestimate your opponents!", Mercury said forcefully, "THAT is why you lost. If you had regarded me with the same level of caution at the beginning of the match, when you still had a sword, as you did near the end, then I would have surely lost. You treated my being weaponless as something that would give you an advantage no matter the circumstances and paid for it by having your weapon removed".

"Yes ebrithil", Loivissa automatically responded, before she could correct herself. It was just that right now, he seemed so much like her ebrithilar back in Estildirin, so the response had been like second nature.

Mercury's response was not as she had expected, "excellent, I shall begin your training immediately after our warm up session during the morning. You are to obey my every instruction during that time and are to limit yourself from using your full speed and strength. When I am convinced you have reached a sufficient level, you will be allowed one match against me to view the difference between your current brawling and the fine art of hand-to-hand or hand-to-weapon combat. Now hand me that orb!"

Loivissa was too stunned to do anything but comply, and she was almost grateful when Mercury disappeared into his memories, as this would leave her with sufficient time to sort out what had just happened with Adûn.

_Did I just become his apprentice?_, Loivissa thought confused.

**Mercury's flashback(10 years into the war)**  
Mercury was just returning to one of his safe houses during the afternoon. He had been up most of last night in order to get as great a distance between him and what had become Kuasta's newest topic of discussion; his latest kill a few days ago.

His target had been a wealthy and quite powerful noble, who in his spare time acted as one of the most influential men in the Black Hand, which Mercury had only managed to learn by piecing together information starting from his breakdown of a noble at his own home a couple of years ago.

For the last six months, Mercury had had him under surveillance, which had proved that Mercury had been right in his assessment of waiting to try to kill the guy until further information was available, because the man was seriously paranoid!

He would never just go somewhere for a stroll or go out unless he had at least a dozen armed guards surrounding him and blocking off any attempts to get a clean shot with a crossbow bolt. His mansion was virtually impenetrable and every employee had been screened beforehand and had been forced to swear in the Ancient language that they were not spies or would ever think of harming him or his family, and whenever he went on business trips, he would acquire lodgings three weeks prior, which he then spent a week making some random carpenters and other townsfolk make repairs to, although none of them knew who it was really for, before he had his guards inhabit the place for two weeks to ensure that no one would be allowed onto the property.

Mercury had only been able to find one fault in the man's tactics, which was that if you knew where he was going and when, then you could go ahead and pretend to be an out-of-a-job carpenter when the guards arrived, so that you would get hired.

The plan had worked fine enough, and Mercury had been able to get enlisted as one of the carpenters assigned to the house repairs. While he had worked there, Mercury had managed to secretly remove enough stones from the inside of the chimney to make an indent large enough for him to just be in, although it would hardly be comfortable.

After the last day of work, Mercury had then managed to sneak up into the chimney and hide there with nothing but a few waterskins and his dwarven ring as company for the next two weeks, although he had warded the area that he inhabited, so that he would not die from carbon monoxide or – dioxide poisoning or feel the flames that licked the inside of the chimney.

For two weeks, Mercury did nothing but wait, although he would sneak out at night once a week to empty his 'filled' waterskins and refill them with actual water. He had not eaten a proper meal during that time; instead he sustained himself by the energy stored inside his dwarven ring.

When the time finally came when the nobleman actually moved into the house, it took all of Mercury's willpower not to kill him that night and get it over with, as he was by now pretty tired of being crammed inside that chimney, but unfortunately he had to wait at least another two nights to ensure that the reason at least could be that someone had managed to penetrate the house.

When the night had finally come, Mercury had been more than elated, not to mention incredibly stiff, to get out of the chimney and acquire the goal that had caused all of this. He had quickly killed the man with a butter knife, as he was warded against any conventional weapons or poisons, which was why Mercury had not been able to just block the chimney at night and let them all die a slow painless death, but a utensils almost never fell into the category of weapons when someone had themselves warded, otherwise it would have created a number of different problems with eating.

Mercury had then slit the man's throat, before he had used the man's own blood to write a message on his bed wall.

Remember to pay your debts, it had said, although this had nothing to do with debts, but it was better for everyone to believe that the nobleman had simply been in a steep debt, which had then caused his assassination, as people could relate that much more to their everyday life, than if he had been another victim in the Shadow War, as people had begun to call it.

After killing the man, Mercury had crawled back up into the chimney and waited a few days for the fuss to die down and the guards to leave the place and remove the wards and traps, before he had crawled out and headed for the nearest safe house.

It certainly would be nice to get a bath after two weeks such as this, but he had to remain on his toes, as he still had to deactivate most of the traps to get into the house. To his surprise, and immediate cause for concern, most of traps had already either been deactivated or had been activated.

It was only with the utmost of caution that he entered the house, and what he found only seemed to confuse him even more, because standing right in the centre of his living room was a woman, which was clad in a dark purple cloak and had her back turned to him, while her long black hair flowed down to her lower back.

Mercury estimated her age to be in the mid-twenties, although he would have to see her face to be certain. He cautiously scanned the room for any other intruders or things that seemed out of place, but found none, before he warily but silently drew a small dagger and edged himself around the room, while his back was constantly protected by the solid stone wall.

"Fear me not, for I have no wish to harm you", the woman said in a voice, which Mercury thought that he recognized from somewhere, although he could not be sure from where.

The woman then turned around to reveal her face. Violet eyes meeting brown lenses. Now that Mercury could properly see her, he knew that he had been right in his estimate of her physical age, but not her actual, as he breathed out the one word that seemed to come to mind, "Elva?"

"Aye, it is I", Elva responded, before a small mischievous smirk slit across her lips along with a certain glint in her eyes, as she said, "you reek of smoke. Where have you been? Inside some chimney for the past two weeks?"

"Perhaps", Mercury responded, knowing better than to either deny or confirm anything right now, before he tried changing the topic, "I thought you would have been older by now?"

"Me too", Elva said with a small chuckle and a slight twirl of her entire body, "I reached this age about two years after Eragon left and have yet to age any further, but I must say, you have not changed that much either".

"I know. I thought it might have been the dragons' influence, but I was unable to confirm it without the passing of more time", Mercury said with a slight smile, _keep the conversation going and merry_, before he in an offhand voice said, "can I get you anything? I have water and cider, or if you are feeling up for it despite your actual age, I also believe I have some wine somewhere around here".

"Some cider would be nice", Elva replied, which made Mercury reach for the cups in the cupboard, before he was stopped by Elva continuing in a slightly amused voice, "as long as you do not give me that third cup from the right. I would very much like to be able to finish our conversation".

_Okay, so non-lethal sleeping drugs will not work_, Mercury mused to himself, before he in a joking voice said, "would you have preferred the second cup from the right?", which only made Elva send him a small scowl.

After eventually filling both their cups with cider, Mercury finally asked the one question that had been churning his mind ever since he first saw her, "why are you here?"

"I am here to recruit you of course", Elva said completely serious, "or at least propose an alliance if you would rather think of it as that. You see, Nasuada has recently put me in charge of a secret subsection of the Nighthawks, which is specially designed to hunt down the Black Hand, and I would like for you and us to work together towards our common goal".

Mercury took a sip of his cider, before he said, "she already has the Green Wing for that. Why would she create you, and more importantly, why would she tell you to cooperate with me? I am sure that she is aware of my…history…with the Green Wing".

"Oh, she has not ordered us to do so. In fact, she does not even know about this", Elva said, as she took a sip from her cider, before she continued, "you see, we have been given quite a special set of orders. The queen is not to know about our day to day activities, and if asked about any of us, she will deny any knowledge of us. The reason behind this is that we are allowed to use means to deal with the Black Hand that would not be appreciated by the general populace or the nobles. Unfortunately, this also means that our recruitment is somewhat limited to a dozen or so people, along with the fact that most of our finances have to be carefully hidden, so that puts quite a loft on our budget".

"Which means that you would like to make use of my already established and functioning network of informants and treasure trove", Mercury finished for her, "why would I be interested in such a partnership?"

"Well for starters, you get to enjoy the pleasure of my company", Elva said with an amused voice, "secondly, we could provide you with people that you can actually trust and delegate work out to. All of my men and women have sworn to eradicate the Black Hand in the Ancient language, including me, so you will not need to worry about us turning on you like what happened during the Disaster of Bullridge, and finally, if you do not, then I will tell the mage's order about your whereabouts, along with all seven of the houses that you have spread across Alagaësia".

_Good, she only knows about seven of them, and none of the companies, but how to find out which?_, Mercury thought to himself, while he tried to keep the conversation going, but without actually agreeing or disagreeing by asking, "would your people be ready to accept orders from me just like that?"

"Well, they would be ready to accept orders from me, which am why you need to think of this as more of a partnership. I will of course be your equal in 'rank', but other than that no one would be able to tell you what to do", Elva replied, "so what do you say? Yay or nay?"

_I do not know whether I can trust them…still it would be nice to be able to delegate some of the more menial tasks, and if I could get Elva to agree with me, her powers could be a huge asset, but then again, if we were ever to fall out, then I do not know whether I would be able to move against her_, Mercury mused for quite a while, before he finally said with a small sigh and an equally small grin on his lips, "fine, I agree to your proposal. Who would have known that that sweet innocent little girl that I danced with a decade ago would turn out to be such a shrewd negotiator".

"Excellent! Oh, I think we are going to have so much fun working together", Elva cheerily said.  
**End of Mercury's flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV again**

When Mercury finally resurfaced, Loivissa had come to grips with possibly being his apprentice, because as one of her ebrithilar had once said, "you must never scoff at someone willing to teach you on a subject that you are sorely lacking in".

"So, what happened?", Loivissa asked.

"I apparently began to work with Elva about a decade into the war", Mercury said sounding thoughtful.

"What was she like?", Loivissa asked intrigued.

"Different, but a good different, I think. Almost like something to balance me out at the time", Mercury vaguely replied.

* * *

I know that some(possible quite a lot) of you think that Mercury's victory over her was very OP, but firstly you have to remember that she almost knows nothing about hand-to-hand combat, whereas Mercury has spent the better part of the last century refining his talents. Secondly, there is another very good reason for his victory over her, but I unfortunately cannot disclose it yet, as it plays a part in the future chapters.


	17. The start of something

Hmm, I have been curious about something for a while now and would like your help in solving it, actually it is all about you, so you are quite essential in solving it. Say that I(completely hypothetical at this moment) were to tell you that only one single important individual currently presented would survive this series; who do you think it would be? Go to my poll on my site to vote, for I am QUITE curious as to whom you believe it to be. Again, I state that it is merely hypothetical, so I am not saying that only one will remain at the end of this.

* * *

**The start of something**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been four days since Mercury had showed Loivissa just how much of a difference there was between what she had considered hand-to-hand fighting and what he did. They had decided to avoid Hedarth, after Loivissa had explained that she had forgotten the gold purse, and had instead decided to venture southwest towards the Beor mountains, as Mercury had been known for employing dwarven smiths, combined with the fact that the mountains' sizes made them the perfect spot if one wanted to hide an armoury.

Mercury had kept his promise of teaching her how to fight unarmed, and although his method of training varied greatly from what she had been used to, Loivissa found that she actually enjoyed the challenge, although she really could get annoyed at Mercury during those times.

Her annoyance came more from the fact that Mercury never allowed her to do anything even remotely at her normal speed until he was satisfied that she could do it completely flawlessly, which he was uncannily strict about what was and what was not.

Another way his teaching varied greatly from her previous lessons in swordsmanship was that he had yet to ever engage her in actual combat. Mercury's way of teaching was that despite it being only four days since her training began, Loivissa was expected to have memorized several dozens of different stances, attacks and counterattacks, which varied in accordance with what your opponent was currently doing.

Loivissa had furthermore found that Mercury's personality changed almost instantly when the training started and when it ended, which had served to confuse her more than a little at first. Loivissa was of course no fool to how people could pretend to have certain qualities in order to better appeal to someone, but when Mercury did it the first time, she had almost believed that someone had taken over his body.

She had later, after discussing it with Adûn, concluded that it was more like Mercury simply put on a persona for the purpose of training her, although she had to admit that he was a damn fine actor if that was the case. Then again, her brother had told her that Mercury had not only been able to pretend to be an old slightly senile man for 50 years, but had done so while constantly faking being crippled on his left leg, so she supposed that he had quite a lot of practice.

Loivissa had furthermore noticed that during the last four days, Mercury had gotten livelier, although he never openly tried to show it. Loivissa had yet to figure out exactly what had caused the change, as his retelling of the war had remained just as gloomy and depressing, despite him probably leaving out the worst parts, and the addition of Elva and her Nighthawks had only been mentioned sparsely a few times.

Speaking of which; Mercury was currently submerged in his memories, and although Loivissa wanted to make sure to be there in case he woke up earlier than usual, it did provide her the opportunity to bathe in the stream that she saw earlier.

After quickly snatching up a few supplies, Loivissa headed for the stream, while musing on the fact that Mercury had never asked to be left alone to bathe during their trip so far, but then again, he himself had said that he did spend most of the night awake, so it was probably only natural that he did so during that time.

**Mercury's flashback(14 years into the war)**  
It was a beautiful midsummer's eve. Mercury was currently dressed in his most regal robes, a green shirt with silver trimmings, pitch black leather boots, some white gloves and a set of dark breeches. His hair was longer than it usually was, now going down to his neck, and had two braids extending from his temples and down past his ears, along with having been coloured black by coal dust for tonight's occasion, and his eyes were currently a slightly darker shade of blue.

Beside him, linking her left arm through his right, was Elva in a dark blue formfitting full-body dress with gold trimmings. Her hair reached down to her lower back and was braided similarly to Mercury's, except that her braids joined together to a single large one at the back of her head. Mercury had made her a set of green contact lenses for the occasion and her dragon mark had been covered up. On her left wrist, there was a silver bracelet with intricate tree-like patterns carved on it, which greatly resembled those on Mercury's bracers and torso armour, while a round amethyst was situated at the centre of the top of the bracelet.

Together they leisurely strolled up the entrance of the Feinster palace, where a ball for all the lords, ladies and important businessfolk of the land was currently being held. Once they reached the entrance, which was guarded by several guards in shining steel plate armour, a clerk requested to see their invitations, before he quickly led them through, while giving them the keys to their chambers during their stay in the castle.

After a short walk, they reached the main ball room, where a band of musicians were playing in the corner. Multiple tables filled to the brim with all kinds of delicacies on silver plates were spread around the outskirts of the room, while the main area was used as a dancing floor.

Servants, all clad in the same pristine looking white uniform, were fussing around and offering the guests drinks from their silver plates. One of them quickly spotted the newly arrived and hurried over to Mercury and Elva, where he humbly said, "anything to drink my lord and lady? We have a fine wine this evening or if you are more into it, there is some brandy as well".

Before Elva could say anything, Mercury cut in and said, "the lady will not be having any alcohol this evening. Does your kitchen have any beverages without it?"

"Of course my lord", the servant said, before he quickly rambled off a list of all the beverages without alcohol.

"I will have the citrus sweet", Elva said after thinking for a little while, "and he will have the raspberry surprise", which the servant quickly acknowledged with a dip of his head, before he scurried off.

"What?", Elva questioned as Mercury looked at her amused, "if I cannot have any, then you cannot either".

"No, not that", Mercury answered with a light chuckle, "but are the citrus beverages not my favourites and the raspberry yours?"

At this moment, the servant returned with their beverages, which they quickly took, before he left again. Elva took a sip of the citrus sweet, before she in a half jesting half daunting voice said, "I suppose we will just have to share them then".

"Is that so?", Mercury queried, before he quickly moved in and stole a swift kiss from Elva's lips, "I think I enjoy that idea".

"Are young couples not adorable?", and elderly lady behind them asked her husband, which he then answered, "yes, my love, they are. Tell me young ones, how long have you been wedded?"

"Just under a year", Elva replied as they turned around to face the elderly couple, "our anniversary is actually coming up in just a few weeks".

"Is that so? Then I wish for you another year of joy", the elderly woman spoke with smile on her lips, before her husband to Mercury said, "come, let us leave the womenfolk to their thing and let me introduce you to some friends of mine".

"I would be happy to oblige you, but unfortunately I have promised my wife that I would dance with her first, and I do believe that the melody that is about to be played is our melody", Mercury respectfully declined the elderly man, before he added, "but I would be happy to join you after the dance".

"Yes, yes, you young folk should enjoy yourselves while you still can", the elderly man said with a small chuckle.

Not soon after, Mercury began slowly leading Elva through the steps of the dance, before he in a hushed voice asked, "are you sure that dancing cannot harm it in any way?", while he shot a quick glance downwards.

Elva gave a light chuckle at this, before she responded in an equally hushed voice said, "I have never heard of something as simple as a dance to cause harm to such a thing. Are you trying to sneak out of our dance husband?"

"No, of course not", Mercury denied, "you won the bet fair and square, so it is only right that you should be allowed your reward, although I do not think that I will ever understand why you are so keen on dancing".

"Yes, I did win the bet. Otherwise we would not have been here remember?", Elva responded during a twirl, "and about the dancing; I believe it only fair that I still have a few secrets left for you to uncover".

Soon the dance ended and Mercury was being ferried off by the elderly man from before, while his wife took Elva for a tour around her friends. Mercury then spent a good deal of the evening merrily chatting with the other people at the ball, although he would often cast a searching gaze out to find Elva's location.

The next time they both met was near one of the dining tables, where Mercury found Elva stacking up fried octopus arms next to her honey covered apples and strawberries with cream.

"An interesting combination", Mercury commented, "perhaps you would like some scrambled eggs as well?"

"Oh, why did you have to mention scrambled eggs? Now I cannot think of anything else", Elva pined with a small but cute pout, before she looked at him adorably and said, "would you like to get me some? Please".

"I think your plate is drawing enough attention as it is", Mercury replied with a small chuckle, while he stole one of her octopus arms and took an experimental bite of it.

"Fine then", Elva pouted, "can we at least soon retire to our chambers? You have no idea of what it is like walking around with this".

"I suppose not", Mercury replied, as he examined some smoked salmon, "but we unfortunately have to be here for a few hours longer. Otherwise, it would draw far too much attention".

"I suppose you are right", Elva replied, before they soon after split up again.

During the next hour, Mercury began to notice that Elva had begun to frequently rub her stomach, so he made sure to stay close enough so that he could still watch her interactions with the other ladies, but far enough away so that it did not look like he was hovering over her.

It was not soon after that he overheard her mentioning to the other ladies that she was not feeling entirely well, which combined with the fact that she was currently rubbing her stomach caused the other ladies to go wide-eyed for a moment, before telling her that they completely understood what she was going through and that it would definitely be worth it in the end.

At this point, Mercury abandoned all illusions of retiring in a few hours, as he quickly strode over to Elva, grabbed her shoulders in what appeared to be a gentle and caring touch, before he with a charming smile said to the ladies, "if you ladies would excuse us, I believe that it would be best if we retired for the night", which the ladies could only nod at with understanding smiles.

Mercury and Elva did not speak all the way up to their chambers, but when the door closed, Mercury angrily turned to Elva and said, "why did you pull such a stunt in front of them? If you wanted to leave that badly, you should have just told me instead of leading them on. Now they will gossip about us, and in turn, they will remember us and maybe even try to locate us to know how we are doing".

"I did not mean to, but the bloody knives have cut through the bandages, so I had to keep readjusting them to stop them from cutting too deep", Elva defended, while continually holding her stomach firmly with her right hand.

Upon hearing her explanation, Mercury softened up, before he in an apologetically voice said, "sorry. Do you need me to take a look at it?"

"It would be appreciated", Elva replied, before she began removing her dress. Underneath, she had only her usual undergarments, but around her stomach there was a tightly wrapped set of bloodied bandages.

Mercury quickly helped her remove the bandages, which contained four curved knives, almost like a scythe, which were extremely sharp at the front edge, but dull in the back edge. Underneath where the daggers had been, three clean but half deep holes were in Elva's stomach, and as soon as the bandages and the knives were removed, blood started oozing out at a much faster pace than before.

While Mercury set about healing the wounds, Elva chuckled lightly at the sensation while saying, "so, do you think we managed to pull the marriage off?"

"I am pretty sure that we convinced everyone", Mercury replied with his own chuckle, "did you manage to learn the chamber of your target?"

"I did. She is one floor down and three to right from ours", Elva replied, "you?"

"Four floors up and one to the right", Mercury replied.

"It seems like you have the longest climb then", Elva jokingly said, "although I suppose we have a bit of time to kill before we can actually do something".

"Another three to four hours at least", Mercury replied while giving his work a final scrutiny, before motioning to her that he was finished.

Elva then quickly redressed in a tightfitting black cloth suit with a black hood and mask, before she handed Mercury his own version of it, which he then quickly shifted into, before the wait began.

After both deeming that sufficient time had passed, Mercury tossed her a small vial, before he asked, "you remember the dose?"

"How could I forget?", Elva replied faux insulted, "five drops into the jug, but are you sure that wards cannot detect this? Or that he will not taste or smell it?"

"It is a solution of pure dissolved Beryllium", Mercury replied, "it will only make the contents taste slightly sweeter, but be deadly none the less. And they cannot ward themselves against it, as if they did, they would die of lack of it. Remember that I taught you about this last year?"

"Just wanted to double check", Elva simply replied, before she disappeared outside the window with two of the knives, which had been specially designed to climb a surface like this.

After seeing her go, Mercury chuckled a little while shaking his head, before he followed her example and disappeared out the window.

A few days later, two people with no obvious connection to each other would start getting sicker and sicker, before eventually succumbing to their deaths.

**Time skip(seven years later(and eight days later in Mercury and Loivissa's travels))  
**Mercury was just coming home from a lone stakeout that he had been on for the past three weeks. He had found that despite having been alone for quite a lot longer than this in the past, he had actually missed companionship during those weeks.

After quickly letting himself through the front door, Mercury's sense of smell was immediately assaulted by the flavours of dinner from the kitchen.

"What's cooking?", Mercury asked towards the kitchen, where Elva appeared a few moments later in an apron.

"Just the dinner", Elva replied, "did you have fun at work?"

"A few sailors wanted to get their pay early, but I denied them", Mercury responded, before he voiced his question, "how about you? Did you do anything useful today?"

"I went to the market to get some herbs", Elva simply replied with a slightly relived sigh, before she in a more tired voice said, "do we really have to go through these code phrases every time one of us comes back? I can after all sense if anything is bothering you, so I would know anyway".

"I know, but I cannot sense if anything is wrong here", Mercury responded with a sigh, while he hung up his cloak at the door and took off his boots, "and besides, you promised when you moved in that you would not use your gift on me no matter what".

"Well, I cannot turn it off, just choose to ignore it", Elva replied before she scurried back into the kitchen.

"I know, I know. I am just tired that is all", Mercury replied before he unceremoniously dumped himself in the nearest chair.

Elva and Mercury had been living together for almost nine years now. It had originally been arranged as such because since Mercury had to move around frequently to avoid detection, he and Elva's Nighthawks had initially had trouble with staying in touch with one another.

The solution had presented itself when the Black Hand had begun to target Elva, which had then forced her to go on the run. Elva and Mercury had soon after made a deal that in order to both ensure that they both were safe and would be able to stay in touch with one another, they should move around together.

The deal had had quite a few clauses and conditions on both parts, one of them being that Elva was to never try to use her gift on Mercury no matter how hurt he mentally was and how much she wanted to help him. One of the things Mercury had to do in return was to never lie to or purposely deceive Elva.

The agreement had not been subjugated to the laws of the Ancient language, as it was also meant to establish trust among the two, which was quite a lot harder to achieve if you knew that the person may only do so because a promise in the Ancient language was binding them.

If Mercury was to be honest with himself, he had actually come to believe that Elva moving in had been good for him mentally. After she had moved in, he had begun to not miss Kilgharrah that much every day, which although rough had been one of the things that had driven him so far.

This had in turn made Mercury realize that a few of the methods that he had been using before had been…a little over the top, and had probably been subconsciously used as a way of expediting the end of the war.

Elva seemed to have benefitted from the move as well, as she genuinely smiled and laughed more, instead of the forced ones she had used before. It was…nice…to know that you had one person that you could always count on, who would never betray you, and who genuinely cared for you, something Mercury had learned that Elva had never once had in her life before.

It was actually amusing to Mercury how despite the other members of the upper echelon, which almost primarily consisted of former Nighthawks, were often making jokes at how Elva and Mercury had turned into a married couple, not a single one of them ever believed that Elva and Mercury's relationship was anything but platonic.

_Well, our relationship might not be purely platonic in nature_, Mercury mused as he remembered the softness of skin, the sweetness her lips and the curious pleasure he found in watching the slow dance of the morning rays on her sleeping form.

Mercury and Elva had from the start decided that they did not wish for a child to complicate things, along with the fact that neither of them believed that it would be healthy for a child to grow up in such an environment, so Mercury had made sure to take the necessary precautions. All it really took was a simple spell and the chance was gone for now.

Perhaps later they could have one, but not until the war had ended, and even then, only after careful consideration. Since neither Mercury nor Elva was aware of any prior humans who had been gifted by the dragons in such a way as themselves, they were slightly concerned about what the repercussions to a child could be.

But this was a concern for later, much later, Mercury decided. For now, he would join Elva in the kitchen to enjoy their first evening together in three weeks.

Later that evening, after dinner had been eaten, work had been done and coordinated and when Elva and Mercury finally had some free time to themselves, they found themselves hunched in two chairs on opposite sides of a small table, and on the table between them, there was a chess set.

Mercury had personally crafted the chess board from a piece of mahogany, while the white pieces were made of carved marble, and the black ones were made of obsidian rock. He had then begun to teach it to Elva one night some four years ago, where Elva had found Mercury hunched over the table by himself in an illusionary battle.

Mercury had decided to play as black for tonight, while Elva got white, although they most often just flipped a coin to decide. Elva had actually gotten pretty good over the years, but Mercury still won most of their matches.

Elva had not always been so eager to continue playing and learning the game, and she had almost quit one night two years ago, which had forced Mercury to reveal just why he was so desperate to teach her about it.

"Did you know that you could compare this chess match to our actual match against the Black Hand?", he had said when she was about to leave, "just like chess has pawns, so do we have small and expendable workers, and just as some pieces are stronger than others, so is some people better at their particular job than others".

This had peaked her interest again, as she had said, "but unlike chess pieces, people cannot only move in certain patterns or lines, and people can be trained and prepared to be better, which chess pieces cannot".

"Yes, but training a person is just like moving him into position", Mercury had countered, "even a rook is useless during the first part of the game, but I did not mean for you to take it so literal, but merely reflect on it".

"What piece have you given me then?", Elva has asked, while eying the pieces. Fully aware that Mercury was not allowed to lie or try to deceive her when directly questioned.

"The Queen piece", Mercury had simply said, while moving said queen piece over to threaten both her rook and her king, "you are by far the strongest player on the field".

"If I am the Queen, would that then make you the King?", Elva had questioned in an amused voice.

"No, the King is the reason why we fight. It can be an ideology, religion or even certain charismatic figureheads. If the reason for our fighting was removed, we would stop playing and thereby lose the game", Mercury had denied in an amused voice with a small chuckle, "no, my role in this as that of the Knight".

"Why? Feeling chivalrous?", Elva had jested.

"Hardly, but a Knight is capable of moving through obstacles that even the strongest pieces cannot, and yet it as practically as useless as a pawn when used improperly", Mercury had explained.

"Why are you telling me this?", Elva had then questioned with a thoughtful look on her face.

"A Queen is a more valuable piece than a Knight", Mercury had simply answered, while keeping his eyes on the board, "should the need ever arise, it would be best if you knew how to properly play the game".

Elva, picking up on the intent behind the sentence, had replied with a determined, "I vow that I shall learn to do so, but…I hope the need never arises…for I would miss my Knight".

That night had been the first night that Mercury and Elva had slept together.  
**End of Mercury's flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV again**

Loivissa had continued to observe how Mercury's mood had generally gotten better and better ever since he had first mentioned that he apparently started working with Elva during the war.

She knew that he was leaving out some details in regards to their relationship, as he almost never spoke of it more than a few words here and there, but it had only been after she had asked Kilgharrah what was really going on between the two of them that she had learned just how involved the two had become with one another.

It had been a little surprising to find out that Kilgharrah apparently trusted and liked her enough to divulge information, which Mercury had told him but not her.

On one note, she was happy that Mercury was being nicer and happier, although the reason behind it oddly enough stung a little, but on another note, she was also a little sad for Mercury, who had either forgotten or chosen to ignore the well-known fact that Elva died during the war.

She was definitely not looking forward to the day when he viewed those memories, but for now, she would let him have his brief moment of happiness, even if it did sting a little.


	18. The collapsing stage

I am not sorry for not uploading a new chapter for Valentines day, but I will make it up to you by uploading a chapter the next time a special day like that comes up...like next Monday for example.

I also changed the summary of both this and the previous story, as I just reread them and they sucked, but my original argument for not wanting to include too much spoilers in it is no longer valid, as I can now give a more exciting description without spilling my guts on things that has not yet come to fruition. Would very much like to hear what you think of them now, as opposed to the previous ones.

In other news, I do hope you are enjoying my version of adult Elva-

* * *

**The collapsing stage**

**Mercury POV(10 days later)  
**It had been only last night that Mercury and Elva had arrived near the western edge of the Beor mountains, but they had come no further in discovering the whereabouts of Mercury's armoury yet. Not that Mercury knew what to do even if they did discover it before he found it in the memories, as his journal had indicated that he had changed the password immediately after the war, which made it a moot point unless they could somehow guess it, which he doubted very much.

So far, all was going well and according to plan, although Mercury had begun to feel a little guilty about the plan. Not nearly enough to even make him reconsider it, but still a little guilty.

Loivissa's training was coming along quite well, he would even have dubbed her a natural if not for the fact that it might be detrimental to his preferred method of training, which consisted of only ever showing the student how far they had come when they were already past the finish line, as a way of avoiding them getting cocky.

Well, not that Mercury had had that many students in his time. There was actually just two, Kilgharrah and Elva, if you did not count the pre-transfer era, as he had come to name his time in the old world as.

Currently, it was in the middle of the night and Mercury had just woken up a few hours ago. He had not begun to read his book yet, as he actually only continued to read it during the hours when Loivissa woke up, as he had already been through it more than a dozen times during this trip, and there was only so many times one could reread a book before it became inconsequential, especially when you had a near eidetic memory.

For the past weeks, he had instead chosen to use the margin of the book as a notebook for his newest project, and he had made sure to write in dwarvish, as Loivissa had apparently never learned the language, so it could simply be seen as notes on the context from an outsider's point of view.

This night however, Mercury had had nothing to note, so for the past hours, he had simply admired the view of the stars from his perch in one of the trees.

It was not that Mercury was incapable of not doing anything, although he found it rather aggravating to be idle, but like reading the book, you could only admire the stars for so long before they too became trivial, especially when you knew that something far more entertaining and constructive was simply waiting wrapped up in Loivissa's packs.

Mercury would never admit this to Loivissa, hell, he tried his hardest to keep it from showing, but currently, the times that he looked forward to the most were the times spent inside his memories. It was rather nice to know that his life had not always been full of so much repressed anger, mistrust and general unrest. To know that once he had had a companion who understood him, who accepted him despite all of his shortcomings and flaws and who loved him despite of everything that had happened to the both of them.

Mercury did not know what had happened to Elva after the Shadow War or what had caused them to drift apart, but when this was over, he would try and find her and reconcile with her. Not only because he had once loved her, as he assumed that he had not done so anymore during the end for some reason, but also because they were the first and last of their kind, the Dragon Blessed, as they had come to refer to themselves as.

Finally, his curiosity and will to re-enter the memories won over his caution of what the repercussions to his next actions might be, so he hopped down from his perch and very quietly proceeded over to Loivissa's sleeping form.

_It is not like I am breaking any direct promises to her_, Mercury reasoned as he rummaged through her packs to look for the orb, _in fact, by doing this now rather than when she awakes, I will have saved her the time of having to wait for me to finish going through them before we proceed_.

Mercury knew that it was weak arguments and that Loivissa likely would not see it that way, but he quickly forgot all about that as his fingers graced the orb. After quickly and quietly retreating to the opposite side of the now doused campfire, Mercury let his fingers rest on either side of the orb, as the colours began to swirl inside of it, except that it was not simply colours, but rather the visual texture of his memories, and then plunged head first into the unknown but exciting world.

**Mercury's flashback(31 years into the war)  
**Mercury was currently situated on top of an old derelict watchtower with no roof, which was overlooking the road between Belatona and Feinster. Around him were his almost usual crew of hired thugs, whom he only trusted just enough to hire them multiple times and to be alone with them. Not that they would receive a single dine for their efforts if he went missing. In fact, Mercury was pretty sure that Elva would make them regret ever having conceived the idea if something happened to him.

A little away, Elva and her team of thugs were hidden inside the forest. All of them were armed with shields and melee weapons, whereas Mercury's team was armed with crossbows only, as they were never intended to engage the coming enemy in any sort of melee combat. Elva's team was actually just there because quite a few missions had gone horribly wrong lately, and it was therefore prudent to have a backup. Not that Mercury did not have another backup plan in case the enemy somehow managed to get up the tower.

The enemy they were waiting for was a supply convoy for the Black Hand, which had, according to intelligence, been disguised as a merchant caravan. The primary plan then was that when the caravan crossed underneath the tower, Mercury's team would open fire upon them and slaughter the unsuspecting guards. Elva's team were to only engage in the event that the enemy somehow seemed to overcome their barrage and began to make their way up the tower, and only if Elva deemed that the enemy's full hand had been shown.

If the mission turned out to be a success, then Mercury and Elva would only need a few additional of such ambushes to starve the remains of the Black Hand just enough for them to finally make their move and eradicate their primary bases of operation, which would mean that the war would end within another two to three years.

It had been quite a long way to get here, and more than once had Mercury begun to doubt whether the war would ever end, but now it was finally within his grasp and it felt good.

No, he could not think like that, not yet anyway, because if he began to get too cocky or too self-assured, then he would fall into the very trap that had so often made it possible for him to overcome enemies and obstacles that would otherwise have been well beyond his reach.

Sighing, he slumped against the railings of the tower and allowed himself to close his eyes and rest for just a while. Well, rest might have been an exaggerating, as he used his loss of sight to focus on his hearing and other senses instead.

He heard the heavy breathing of the thugs around him, the singing of the birds, quite a few crickets somewhere out in the wild, along with the occasional stumbling of one the thugs who tripped over something.

Mercury continued to do so for quite a while, almost half an hour. It was indeed very relaxing to do this, but he could still sense everything around him and picture where every single individual was on his internal map of the tower top.

Another bonus of doing this was that people often mistook it for sleep and therefore relaxed when near him. It gave Mercury the opportunity to listen to the conversations that were a little more private and not meant for his ears, but definitely not anything even closely resembling criticism or mutiny, as no one dared to speak about such things if they knew that he was even in the same building as them. He had made plenty enough of examples of those that did do such things to deter others from doing.

Thud

A faint thud was suddenly heard by Mercury. It was very subtle and almost undetectable, but it was there nonetheless. Then another similar thud came, and Mercury realized that the sound came from beneath them, inside the tower itself and probably from the stairs.

Soon another followed, except that this one had a slight steely clanging sound to it. It was at this point that Mercury knew that something was very wrong, for not only had the caravan not showed up, but now armed men were scaling the tower where he intended to ambush that caravan from.

Mercury's eyes immediately shot open, and not a moment too late, because in the next second, the hatch downstairs was torn open and three fully armed warriors emerged. Two were garbed in chainmail armour and had a hand a half swords ready, but the third was clad from top to toe in plate armour and carried a large two hand sword, which could probably reach Mercury's shoulders if standing vertically on the ground.

The two lighter armoured men quickly slashed two of Mercury's hired thugs' backs, before anyone else even noticed what had happened. The heavily armoured foe swung his broadsword downwards towards Mercury's resting form, but Mercury just managed to roll to the side and avoid the blow.

By this time, Mercury's team had managed to draw their usual weapons, which consisted of anything from knives or dagger to scythes and regular one-handed swords, but they were quickly overwhelmed when yet another three men emerged from the hatch to reinforce their comrades, and judging from the sound underneath, at least another two dozen or so were currently charging up the stairs to follow their example.

Still lying on the ground, Mercury tried to kick the heavily armoured man's shin, but found that plate armour was quite painful to kick at and that your kick really did not do much damage to it. The kick fortunately enough managed to stagger his opponent for just long enough for Mercury to get up from his position on the floor, but when he did, he found that he had quickly been surrounded by the other two initial foes to emerge from the hatch.

They seemed to regard Mercury and each other for just a while. Not long enough for Mercury to draw any weapons, not that he wanted to in this situation, as it would instantly break the spell and just be a hindrance in his way for now.

Before long, perhaps a mere second and a half, a consensus seemed to have been formed, because in the next moment, the heavily armoured foe in front of Mercury made a horizontal swing towards Mercury, while the two behind Mercury stepped back in order to not get hit by the sword.

It was an easy move to predict, and the heavy armour and weapon of his foe made the swing slower than it could have been with a smaller sword and lighter armour.

These were the key factors in Mercury being able to duck under the swing, move forward and grab the lower part of the plate covering his foe's stomach with one hand and the upper part of it with his other, after which he used the man's own momentum to shift his balance and send him flying towards the other two men, and all of it done before the swing had even ended its course.

It gave Mercury a brief respite from incoming attacks, but that was all he needed in order to make a beeline for the edge of the tower, which had previously been blocked by the heavily armoured man.

Mercury sprinted as fast as he could towards the edge of the tower, where he jumped off without even so much as a second of hesitation, while simultaneously grabbing an end of the rope situated on the outer part of tower's walls and thereby out of sight from anyone but those that knew it was there.

With the rope, he stopped himself halfway down the tower, where he crashed into the wall of the tower with his feet, almost like rappelling but far less secure and far faster than would ever have been allowed, before he kicked off from the wall and let go of the rope.

During his fall towards the earth, Mercury managed to just twist himself enough in the air to send a fireball flying through one of the windows near the bottom of the tower, before he twisted himself back away from the tower and facing the earth stomach first, before he used his magic to create invisible barriers between his legs and between his arms and his torso, so that the air caught there would slow his descent and simultaneously convert his vertical speed to horizontal speed away from the tower.

In the next instant after the fireball had gone through the window, an explosion rocked the base of the tower, which blasted almost half of the supporting walls away, which in turn quickly made the tower tilt towards the now missing sections of wall, before it all tumbled down into a messy dust cloud of rubble and frantic enemies, all thanks to a little invention some 32 years ago.

After descending near the edge of the forest where Elva and her team were hiding, Mercury stretched his mind until it found the familiar presence of Elva, where he quickly said, _our operation is blown. Disperse your forces and meet me back at the hideout_.

_Are you all right?_, Elva responded concerned.

_A little bruised, but nothing worse for wear. I had to initiate a contingency plan that I came up with when I got here to escape_, Mercury replied before he cut the link and headed in the opposite direction of their current hideout, as he wanted to be sure that if he was somehow being tailed, at least Elva would not be found.

It was well past noon before Mercury finally made it back to the hideout, where he found Elva sitting in one of the two chairs waiting for him with her hands constantly fiddling with each other.

Upon his entry, she looked up and spoke her question, which he answered with the appropriate response, before he slumped into the other chair like an old tired man after an especially tiring day of work.

"Five ambushes ambushed in the same number of months", Mercury muttered without looking up, "I think we need to consider the possibility that there is a traitor among the upper echelon?"

"I agree, it is too obvious to be anything but", Elva replied equally tired.

"Perhaps it is time to initiate Winter's Dawn?", Mercury asked in a half telling half asking voice.

"Are you sure? The repercussions if it fails would be catastrophic in our current situation", Elva argued, "I do not think we should do something so drastic before we have no other choice".

Mercury knew from her arguments that she was not directly against his suggestion, but that she merely needed him to provide a few arguments to ease her conscious of the decision that they were taking. It was one of the perks of having lived and worked together for so long, you eventually became so accustomed to the other's quirks, likes and dislikes that open discussions were just a formality for propriety's sake.

"We cannot allow the traitor to constantly gnaw at our heels and disrupt our missions, and thereby take us down one small bit at a time", Mercury reasoned, "the traitor also needs to be isolated in order to avoid the potential of him or her spreading his or hers beliefs to other members. We made Winter's Dawn especially for a situation such as this".

"Thank you", Elva murmured, before she changed her tone to a more commanding one and said, "now get out of that armour and into the shower. Your little stunt must have reduced the tower completely to dust, which all followed you home".

"Yes, my lady", Mercury replied with a chuckle, "you will send out the orders to the others to initiate Winter's Dawn?"

Elva nodded once, as she took his discarded armour and threw them into the laundry bin, before she went to the office to start the process of sending every member of the upper echelon, which mostly consisted of her own Nighthawks, into hiding at individual safe houses, which only herself, Mercury and the sole occupant of the house was aware of where was.

Winter's Dawn then dictated that all members were to remain in hiding until an all clear had been given by either Mercury or Elva. Mercury and Elva were the only members allowed to move freely across Alagaësia during this time in order to conduct their investigation and root out the traitor.

If no all clear signal or orders to hold firm had been given by either Mercury or Elva during the first eight months, the members were instructed to go down to the basement, or sometimes the roof or someplace else, where a coffin would be, which they should then open with their individual keys in order to receive their last instructions from Mercury and Elva, as this would mean that they both had died.

Unknown to the members however were the fact that the coffins were actually death traps, specially designed to kill each and every one of them instantly. This part was the final part of Winter's Dawn in case Mercury and Elva had failed to apprehend the traitor, which would then ensure that Mercury and Elva made sure that they at least got the person, before they would start over again.

Three months later, Mercury was rummaging through the old mission briefings from five months ago and up till now, while comparing them with those years older, as he was sure that the traitor had at least not seen them.

Elva was currently away doing field investigations, so he was all alone in the study, which was quite alright as he had had to implement an old technique from his old world, which he was quite wary of doing. The technique was actually quite low tech and simple, as it was simply fingerprint analysis, which he was able to do without any aids because of his dragon eyes.

He had had Elva gather written statements from all of the members in hiding, which he would then check for their fingerprints and compare with those found on both the old and new briefings, although he had neglected to mention this detail to Elva. Not because he even had a shred of doubt about her, but rather because he wanted to make sure that the members did not suspect a thing, which was easiest if the person they were talking to did not either. He was sure that Elva would understand when he told her, as it was hardly the first time he had done so and that she had agreed that it was the best course of action. Also, since she never questioned him about it, he had not lied or deceived her, if she had, he would have told her.

Going through the briefing reports was tedious but necessary work, although his current results did infuriate him very much. Since the only people, who were actually allowed to see the briefing reports before they were given orally, were himself and Elva, he had to exclude all of their fingerprints from the briefing reports, which unfortunately also seemed to be the only ones that he could find.

Either the thief had worn gloves constantly while going through the reports, an event highly unlikely when you considered the blistering heat for the five months that the perpetrator was known to operate, combined with the fact that no one in Alagaësia knew that they were leaving behind such evidence, or it was one of the two people that he had found, which was equally as unlikely.

It could not be him, not even if he had developed a second personality, as he kept a thorough journal of where he was and when, and Elva had absolutely nothing to gain by orchestrating such petty attempts to sabotage their own organization, even IF she had somehow been brainwashed.

She knew that the ambushes were nothing more than minor irritation issues. No, if she had wanted to destroy her own organization, she would have had him killed, but made it look like a traitor of some kind, and then have initiated Winter's Dawn, but merely let everyone be killed…which was almost exactly what had just happened.

He had only escaped that ambush in the tower thanks to a spur of the moment idea that had entered his head as he had prepared their ambush. There was no way he would have survived without it, as Elva's team had been supposed to be their contingency plan in case anything went wrong, and there had simply been too many too well trained soldiers ready to take him on when he least expected it.

_But she opposed to initiate Winter's Dawn_, a part of his brain told him.

_Only sparsely, she knew that you knew that she would try to make small objections to sate her conscious_, another traitorous part of his mind told him, _and look now what has happened; she has made no progress, despite of her talents to get into people's heads, while you can only find your own and her fingerprints on the very files that displayed your strategy and weaknesses_.

_But she would not_, the first part said, _she loves you. If she would have wanted you dead, there were countless opportunities in the past, so why now?_

_Perhaps something changed?_, the second part argued, oh how Mercury deeply hated that part, _perhaps someone found her True Name and is using it to control her. If that is the case, then there is no hope of saving her, for she is almost unstoppable if she is allowed to get close. You need to take action before something like that happens. You cannot hope to conceal your doubts from her if she truly has changed sides, so you cannot see her again either, which means…_

_It means that even if I wanted to prove her innocence, she would suspect me of avoiding her, and if she truly has changed sides, I would be powerless to stop her_, the real Mercury responded, _it means that Elva has to die…_

* * *

-because she has to die.


	19. Betrayal

Oh, this title has so many references in this chapter, not all of them known to you yet.

* * *

**Betrayal**

**Mercury's flashback(resumed)  
**Elva had to die. That was the only conclusion Mercury had ended up with. Whether by willing or forced deceit, Elva had been turned against their original values and goals and had betrayed Mercury, so she had to die.

It was kind of ironic how quickly Mercury had come to the conclusion that she had to die after learning of her betrayal, and yet here he was, still sitting in the very chair that he had sat in for the last hour since reaching his conclusion, and he had yet to make any plans whatsoever of how to dispose of her, or even to get out of the house before she came back.

Perhaps it was the fear of leaving everything that he had known for the last 19 years behind that forced this indecisiveness on him. Perhaps it was the fact that he for the first time since the vows had been made, he would have to break them. Perhaps it was his own unwillingness to believe what was happening, the part of him that wished for this to be some sort of awful nightmare…or perhaps it was the fact that the woman that he trusted most, who he had lived together with for 19 years, who he had cherished and loved beyond what he had ever believed that he was capable of, had turned against him and tried to kill him.

A not so small part of him wished that she had succeeded, that he had died in that desolate tower in blissful ignorance. He knew that it was cowardly to think as such, to wish for death when Alagaësia needed his services the most.

_This is your own fault, you know_, a part of Mercury whispered to him, taunting him, _you had to mix work with pleasure and look where it got you. Now you are too incapable of doing anything other than sit and wallow in your own misery. Where are your pride and your determination to remove the Black Hand from the face of the earth? Did you not promise Kilgharrah that you would see him again after this was done, and yet here you are waiting for death to find you?_

"**I have lost everything**", Mercury said dejected, the Ancient language proving that he really felt so.

_Have you now?_, the part whispered, _Elva is but a disobedient queen on the board that hinders your other pieces from locking down the enemy's movement before you go in for the kill._

That…that was right, Mercury realized. Elva was just a disobedient piece that needed to be removed before he could claim his victory. He had been a fool for ever thinking of her, of anyone, as anything but expendable pieces.

Finally gathering the will to get up from the chair, Mercury quickly donned a travelling cloak, took some money and supplies and left a message for Elva that explained that he might have found a lead in Carvahall and that he would be gone for a while. It was the first lie Mercury had ever told to Elva, and it would also be the last.

His real destination was however an old safehouse from before he had joined up with Elva and her Nighthawks. It was the only one he had left from that era, and he and Elva had only used it once since then, a little more than a year ago.

When he finally got there, Mercury immediately headed for the attic, where he pushed several places on the wood, before a small compartment opened up. In it, there were several large stacks of old paper, which were all sorted neatly into groups with binders, although they were rather dusty.

_Not quite as dusty as I would have suspected from almost 16 years of neglect. Must be the non-existent flow of fresh air_, Mercury mused to himself as he extracted a specific group of papers from the stacks.

When he opened it downstairs, the very first line read: 'Personnel file for subject: Elva of the dragon mark. Threat level: Extremely high(complete allegiance or removal is of highest priority)'.

When Elva and her Nighthawks had first made the deal with Mercury, he had created a file on each and every one of them, which encompassed anything from descriptions, to strengths and powers, to habits along with Mercury's best guess at their psychological profile. Mercury had abandoned the last of the files after five years, as he had eventually come to the belief that they were no longer of any relevance, and had therefore stored them up here ever since.

Mercury did not know whether he had decided to store them as a final precaution if something went wrong, or whether he was opposed to letting his hard work go up into ashes, but they would be sure to prove their value now.

As Mercury continued to read the file, he eventually came across his description of Elva's personality;  
'The subject has an outwards appearance of a confidant and somewhat uncaring character, who never relies on anybody or wishes to form relations to others, but further study has proven that the subject is in fact not so far ahead in her emotional development as she is in her physiological. The subject appears to actually be afraid of forming relations with others, as she believes that everyone will eventually despise her or try to use her for her gift.  
Recommended action for securing allegiance: become a constant focal point, which she can always come to for advice or anything else. This act is believed to be able of forever tying her allegiance to the cause.'

Mercury had dutifully followed his step by step plan for doing this…for exactly a year and a half, before he had abandoned any such plans and actually started to form a genuine relationship with her. Now he wished that he had continued for much longer.

Finally arriving to the section that Mercury wanted to read, he eagerly read as it said: 'Plan for removal of subject: As the subject is capable of both sensing her own, as well as others, pain for up to an hour and a half in advance, and sensing the ill will of anyone closer than 500 metres from her, her death must be both pain free and devoid of actual contact between the assailant and the subject. One highly recommended way of removing the subject is by having a non-magical trigger placed somewhere where the subject frequently visits and stays for a while. The trigger will have to silently activate upon entry, after which a mixture of formic and sulphuric acid will be mixed and create a deadly but painless death by cause of carbon monoxide poisoning. Exact quantities will have to be calculated based on room size and drafts. Since Alagaësia does not know of the existence of CO, they will only ward themselves against the visible smoke of a chimney, and are thereby vulnerable to its deadlier hidden component, which, if manufactured artificially without the smoke, they will be extremely vulnerable to.'

_Good, Elva will stay at the safehouse for at least another two months_, Mercury mused to himself as he closed the file, _her death will come soon_.

**Time skip(two weeks later)  
**Mercury was currently standing on the balcony of one of his more lavish safehouses during the crescent moon of a cloudless night, where he was leaning against the stone railing with a glass of red wine in his left hand. On his legs, there were a pair of black leggings, and on his torso, he wore a purple toga with gold filigree on it, while a crimson red cape flowed from his back.

Mercury was waiting for his hired assassins to return and confirm their kill of Elva, as well as the least useful member of the upper echelon, as Mercury had planned to use him as a scapegoat in an effort to seize control of the rest of the Nighthawks without any incidents that were sure to come if Elva was ever discovered to be the traitor.

Well, that was the purely logical reason that Mercury liked to reason to himself with, whereas the other not quite so logical reason was that Mercury did not wish for Elva's name to be tarnished by treachery by the common or even noble folk of Alagaëisa.

Usually, Mercury would personally supervise a mission of this importance, but for this mission, he had decided that…he simply should not, which was why he had contracted some of his old and competent assassins.

Speaking of which, they had just entered the foyer behind the balcony, although they had made absolutely no sound nor had they been visible by Mercury. This was however a safehouse of Mercury's making, so he would be damned if a simple couple of assassins could sneak in without being noticed.

"I see that you have returned, gentlemen", Mercury addressed the two assassins, without turning to face them and instead continuing to stare out from the balcony, "did everything go according to my plans?"

"Yes, my lord", one of the assassins spoke, "we even witnessed the witch Elva, as she collapsed in her chair".

"Excellent, I will have their bodies taken care of later", Mercury replied in a cold voice, still not even sparing a glance at the assassins behind him, "your other half of the payment is on the table. There are also a couple of glasses for the wine that I have pulled up if you would care for a drink first. It is a rather nice one from Aroughs", and as if to emphasize his point, Mercury took a slow sip of the glass that he was holding.

"No thank you, we will just be collecting our payment and then be off", one of the assassins spoke, obviously not trusting the wine bottle, next to the large purse of gold on a small round table in the foyer, not to be poisoned.

The two assassins quickly scurried over to the table, where they were quick to grab the large purse of gold off of it. The moment they did so however, a small click could be heard, and in the next instance, a hidden scythe-like blade in the wall had cut both of them in half.

"Such a shame that I cannot employ you anymore, but I am afraid that I cannot allow anyone to live, who knows of what has been done", Mercury murmured casually to the dead bodies, while he for the first time since they entered spared a glance at them, "by the way, I think that you would have found the wine to be a less painful death. Not that I poisoned it, it is such a waste to do so to such a nice wine, especially when nobody ever checks their cups for poison".

**Time skip(three days later at the royal cemetery in Ilirea)  
**Mercury was attending Elva's funeral along with the rest of her part of the Nighthawks, although they were all in disguises, as to not be recognized by anyone. The funeral had quickly become a quite public event, as Elva's death had been blamed on the Black Hand, combined with the public sayings that if the witch could be killed by them, then no one was safe anymore.

Nasuada and the official part of the Nighthawks were there too, they even made a small speech about her contributions to Galbatorix's downfall, although none about her involvement in the Shadow War, as it was still being kept secret.

The casket was a closed lid white wooden casket, and on top of it, there were enough flowers to completely cover the lid. Mercury did not even once say something on her behalf during the funeral, although quite a few others did, others that had barely known her and probably only wanted to gain some goodwill by pretending that they had.

Mercury immediately felt a sudden dislike for those people, but kept it contained and continued to remain unnoticed, half covered by the shadow of a tomb and half visible by the other guests, not that anyone really noticed him.

After Elva's casket had been put in the ground, everyone who wished so had spoken, her tombstone had been raised and everyone but Mercury had left the cemetery, Mercury finally moved from his spot in the shadows and approached Elva's tombstone, where it read: 'here lies Elva, the one who was blessed by Saphira of the bright scales  
born during the final years of the reign of Galbatorix to parents, who were far too soon deceased, blessed by Saphira of the bright scales shortly before the battle of Tronjheim, in service to the future High Queen Nasuada by her given talents, aider of Galbatorix's downfall, died during the 31st year of the Shadow War as a calamity of it  
May she rest in Angvard's halls among the bravest of heroes'

There was so much Mercury felt that needed to be added to that list, but none of it ever would. Instead he drew from his pocket a small white marble Queen piece, which he then placed on top of her tombstone, before he turned to leave. He had almost taken the first step, before he quickly turned around, and with his index finger knocked the Queen piece to the side, so that it was lying on the tombstone, before he then turned and quickly left.

_I will obliterate the Black Hand for forcing me to do this!_, Mercury simmered as he stormed out of the cemetery, _no more will I hold back! No more will I doubt whether what I am doing is right! I WILL have my revenge for this!_

_No, no! I do not want to see anymore!_, the Mercury of the current time screamed inside his head, but despite his attempts to leave, he found that he simply did not have the willpower to do so anymore, and so he ended up continuing to experience every emotion, thought, action and feeling for the next 16 years.  
**End of Mercury's flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV**

Loivissa had yet to rise from her sleeping position on the ground, despite it being about time for her to get up. It was not that she was still sleeping, as she was fully awake and had been so for the past hour and a half, but she had been mulling over how exactly to help Mercury cope with Elva's impending death.

Perhaps it was simple cowardice that kept her from getting up, an attempt to postpone Mercury's finding out about the death of Elva.

_No, I cannot let him see my weakness at a time like this_, Loivissa finally concluded to herself, _I will have to stay strong for his sake and be ready to talk to him if necessary. It is the least that I could do after he has agreed to not only share his events with me, but also take me under his wing._

Fully determined, Loivissa finally cracked her eyes open and looked up towards a nearby tree, where she expected to find Mercury reading as usual, only to find that he was not there.

_Where could he have gone?_, Loivissa mused to herself, before she rose from her position and looked around the campsite.

She found Mercury sitting bent over something with his back towards her at the other side of the doused campfire. He did not move at all, not even acknowledging her getting up, so she quickly went around the campfire to see what he was doing.

When she finally reached his side, she could see that he was holding some sort of multicoloured orb, although red appeared to be a pretty dominant colour right now. It only took a moment before recognition kicked in and Loivissa frantically said, "the bloody memory orb! But it is supposed to be in my bag?"

_Why is Mercury still sitting on the ground?_, Kilgharrah's sleepy voice echoed inside Loivissa's head, _I would have thought that he had gone tired of it by now?_

"How long has he been like this?", Loivissa asked with a sense of dread in her stomach.

_I do not know the exact length, but I first noticed him doing so quite early into the night_, Kilgharrah answered, _when he did not answer me, I assumed that he was just fully concentrating on something, so I decided to let him be_.

_What the whole night?_, Loivissa thought with dread, _it usually only takes him about an hour to go through two years' worth of memories. If he has been continuing on for so long, who knows how much he has absorbed?_

Quickly making up her mind, Loivissa immediately extended her consciousness towards Mercury's, where she surrounded and quickly penetrated the seemingly undefended mind. She did found his lack of any defences and complete lack of even recognizing her intrusion more than a bit odd.

These thoughts were however quickly swept aside as she was bombarded by a thousand different expressions, sensations and thoughts at the same time. It took all of her willpower to even stay coherent in the violent flow of memories, which had seemingly no order and coherence to them anymore.

At one instance, she would be viewing through the eyes of Mercury how he made a mansion crumble in on itself and killing everyone inside, while she in the next would see herself wearing a dark leather armour with two steel blades sticking out of each bracer, while she apparently mercilessly slaughtered an entire regiment of darkly clad and heavily armoured warriors by ambush and tricks.

Each stab through a joint or each slash across an exposed throat made the blades and armour become more and more crimson, while a river of blood had begun to flow from the scene. Through it all, the most dominant emotion that she could feel was anger and an extremely strong feeling of vengeance.

Thoroughly appalled by the memories, Loivissa had only one coherent thought; to find all of Mercury's consciousness and get him out of here.

After searching for quite a while, she finally found a part of Mercury that was not entirely compromised of jumbled memories, as this part was apparently relieving the newest ones, which would then soon flow through his mind like the rest of them did. It was actually how Loivissa had found him in the first place, by following the more and more recent events flowing through the mind, like someone following a stream to find the source of it.

_Mercury, you have to leave this place. It is not safe to watch this much at one time_, Loivissa tried to tell him, but received no answer, not even as much as a jerk from him to confirm that he had even heard her.

Loivissa tried again several times, but she never received any reply or indication that he had heard her, so she eventually had to assume that his consciousness was already too muddled by the flow of memories to support any such coherent action.

After quickly wrapping her own consciousness completely around his in an effort to shield him from receiving any new memories to deal with, she immediately tried to pull them both out of the depths of Mercury's mind, but found it to be an extremely difficult task to do.

If she had only been herself, she was sure that she would have been able to do so, but with an unhelpful Mercury as an extra weight, she found it much more difficult to pull them up. Each attempt to pull them out of the depths rendered her just a little bit more exhausted than she had been previously, and it was not long before she eventually lost the willpower to even pull herself up.

Was this what it felt like for humans to become lost in an elf's mind, Loivissa wondered? She had heard a few tales of human mages becoming so lost that they never returned, and even the ones that did not become lost often did not come back as they had come.

After almost resigning herself to spending an eternity trapped in here, Loivissa suddenly felt the pull of two mighty beings descending down to the depths that she and Mercury were occupying. One of them, she recognized instantly as Adûn, while she soon after recognized the other as Kilgharrah.

Together, the two dragons began to lift them upwards from the depths that they were in, and with renewed vigour, Loivissa used her willpower to help them lift the four of them up and out of the jumbled death trap that had become Mercury's mind.

When Loivissa returned to her own mind, the first thing that she did was to take a large breath of air, which was quickly followed by another, before she tired said, "thank you, I was afraid that I might never get out of there".

_We were happy to help. You are after all my rider and Kilgharrah would have done so for Mercury as well_, Adûn answered.

"Will he be alright?", Loivissa questioned Kilgharrah with a quick look at Mercury's still unconscious form.

_I do not know, but I think so_, Kilgharrah replied, _he is sometimes foolhardy and reckless, but I have learned that he is nothing if not resilient_, the last part was said with something akin to pride from Kilgharrah.

"Alright, I will trust you on that", Loivissa said slightly down, as she pried the orb from Mercury's hands and wrapped the cloth around it, before depositing it back into her backpack.

After doing so, her stomach announced that she had yet to eat breakfast, and she briefly wondered why nothing was ready, before she remembered that it was usually Mercury who had prepared it for her. She then quickly put a few ingredients together, which unfortunately for her mostly consisted of meat, as they had run out of vegetables several days ago and she had been forced to eat meat since, and after putting a few seasonings into the stew, she began to slowly eat it.

It was not as good as the one Mercury usually made, but it was close, which was something she had never dreamed that she would be able to do, especially not with meat being such a vital component of the stew.

When Mercury began to stir a couple of hours later, the first thing she did was to hand him a bowl of quickly reheated stew, which she then coaxed him into deliriously eating to regain his strength.

The two dragons and Loivissa had previously agreed that since it would be doubtful how well Mercury would be doing when he woke up, and that they really had nowhere specific to go right now, it was better if they simply stayed where they were until he at least recovered.

It was not until close to evening that Mercury began to stop looking at his surroundings like their very nature was somehow foreign to him, yet he kept that somewhat glazed expression in his eyes. When Loivissa had once again force-fed supper to Mercury, he finally began to look like he recognized her.

It took another day and a half before Mercury seemingly fully recovered from his ordeal, although he had yet to mention any of it. In fact, Loivissa had only heard him say a very select few words since the incident.

Loivissa had tried to coax him into talking about what had happened, she really wished that she could help with the pain that losing Elva would have caused to him, but every time she did so, he completely shut her off. Loivissa had learned from Adûn that Mercury had not even shared anything about what happened with Kilgharrah.

Generally, Mercury seemed like he was just brooding and there was no sign that he would stop any time soon, although Loivissa wished that he would, as she missed the old Mercury that she had gotten to know.

_Please try and continue getting through to him_, Kilgharrah suddenly said after their supper that day, _every time I try, he shuts me out, but he cannot shut out his own hearing_.

Loivissa felt both elated and slightly worried at this. Elated in that Kilgharrah somehow trusted her enough to try and deal with something this precious to him, and worried by the fact that Mercury had shut out Kilgharrah completely.

"Listen, Mercury…I know that it must have been hard to loose Elva, but-", Loivissa started to say, but was cut off by Mercury angrily shouting, "Just shut up! You do not know anything!"

Loivissa was naturally hurt by this, but at least she had gotten an emotional response from him, which was quite a lot more than anyone had received since the incident, so she decided to try and plough through.

"I know that it hurts, but you have to understand that she would not have wanted you to mourn over her loss even so long after it happened", Loivissa started to say, but after seeing his expression change into the worse, she decided that this was probably not the right way to approach it.

Counselling someone who was grieving had really never been her strong side, Celiste would probably know what to say, but she was not here and Loivissa doubted that Mercury would be very fond of receiving counselling from a complete stranger through a magical mirror.

"Elva knew what she was going in to when she joined with you. She knew that there were risks, but she accepted them and I am sure that she was happy during the times that you were together", Loivissa tried again, but was met with an even worse reaction than before.

Sighing, she tried in a pleading voice to say, "can you not tell me anything about it? I am sure that it would help if you did so. For example, how did Elva die?"

After a while, Mercury finally whispered an answer, although it was so low that Loivissa almost missed it, "I killed her".

"What?!", Loivissa choked, she had definitely not expected that answer.

"I killed her!", Mercury said again, this time more forcefully, "I ordered her death! I found evidence that she had betrayed our cause and I killed her!"

After saying this, Mercury seemingly crumbled in on himself, as he lowly muttered to himself, "I killed her", over and over again.

Loivissa did not know what to say. She knew that the Decade of Bloody River, named as such because it took a decade and because it was an extremely bloody part of the Shadow War, where the streets were sometimes said to have run red with blood, had happened immediately after Elva's death. It had been assumed by most scholars that her death was actually the opening volley from the Black Hand during this period, but now she knew better.

It had been Mercury, not the Black Hand, that had ended Elva's life, seemingly because she had somehow changed sides, and, if what coherent meaning she had managed to glean from Mercury's mind had been any clue, it had also been Mercury who had escalated the conflict and simply stopped all efforts at trying to cover up the casualties from public sight, an unspoken agreement that had previously existed among both parties of the conflict in order to not rile up the public.

The decade of Bloody River had then been followed by six years of relative peace, where it had originally been assumed that the Black Hand had been vanquished, although it had later turned out that they had actually become engrossed in a civil war amongst themselves for who was to lead them next, and that they after that had purposely laid low to ease suspicions and recoup their former strength.

This was however not the time to muse over the implications of such things, as Loivissa still had a clearly distraught Mercury to somehow console.

Not knowing what else to do, Loivissa decided to approach the situation as she would with a child, which meant that she slowly and cautiously moved towards Mercury, before she gently grabbed hold of his head and brought it down to rest against her stomach. Mercury resisted it at first, but later he seemed to simply give up on trying to escape from the embrace.

When he did so, she began to mutter in a calming voice, "shh, it was not your fault. She forced your hand by betraying your hard-earned relationship".

"I tricked her", Mercury choked out in a voice close to completely breaking, "when I first met her, I studied her personality and tricked her into trusting me, into giving me her unwavering allegiance. I pretended to be everything she needed me to be in order to win her over".

That…was unexpected, but now was not the time to lecture him about doing something like this, and besides, based on his admissions to Kilgharrah, Loivissa could guess that he had stopped thinking about her like that long before they even began a more than platonic relationship.

"It is okay", Loivissa continued in her calming voice, "you are not like that anymore".

"But I am!", Mercury's voice broke at this, "I did so to you too. I tricked you into doing morning practices with me to study how you moved, and then I later tricked you into telling me stories about your childhood to study how your mind worked. Even your challenging me was part of my plan to manipulate you. I knew from clues in your stories that you had a strong adherence to authority figures, especially your teachers, so I engineered a way for you to see me as such. I have not changed at all!"

Mercury's admission left Loivissa speechless for quite a while. He…he had been slowly manipulating her all along, turning her into his own little marionette puppet! To say that her trust in him had taken a hit was well beyond any sort of understatement…and yet she still found herself softly stroking his hair, as he continued to shake.

_He would not have told me about this unless he truly regretted it_, Loivissa surmised, as there was no way that she could think of, where it could at all be beneficial for someone to admit that they have been manipulating you from the start. In fact, she should by all rights have left immediately after the declaration, and yet she was still here somehow.

Instead of leaving, she wrapped her arms tighter around his head and whispered into his ear, "it is okay. I will not leave you".

Mercury's only reaction to this was to grab her long golden hair and bury his hands in it, as he continued to shake and sob uncontrollably.

Perhaps it was not the best decision, and perhaps she would come to regret it later, but Loivissa had made up her mind and heart, and her heart told her that she needed to stay here and help Mercury through his time of grief.

So Loivissa stayed, keeping Mercury firmly secure in her embrace through the evening until the stars shone and the campfire had worn off. Soon after the last of the embers had died, Loivissa managed to lead the still shaking Mercury to her bedroll, while still keeping him in a firm embrace, before she grabbed a blanket and tossed it over the two of them.

They would remain in that position all through the night, him shaking and sobbing, while she kept stroking his hair and back, while muttering sweet calming words to him. Mercury only just began to calm down a few hours before the sun rose yet again, but they never broke the embrace.

* * *

So there you have the other reason why Mercury bested Loivissa so soundly during their fight, but who knows what comes next?

To Awesome Guy: A; thanks, I appreciate it  
B; Nope  
C; Probably quite obvious by now that they did not have any children. I am however curious as to how you came to this conclusion after reading the last chapter, in which it ended with him resolving to have her killed.


	20. New outlook, same Mercury

And the winner of the competition was...(drum roll)...AlexPredator86. Give him a large applause everyone.

* * *

**New outlook, same Mercury**

**Loivissa POV  
**The last few days had been…strange…for Loivissa. Despite Mercury all but saying that his entire way of acting towards her during their entire trip had been an act, he had not changed a single thing since his breakdown a few days ago. In fact, after composing himself in the morning the day after the breakdown, Mercury had reverted completely back to his old behaviour, without any kind of sign or hint that it had ever happened.

Well, not to say that everything had been the same, as they no longer had joined morning practises or training, and the fact that for Mercury's continued frame of mind, it had been deemed best for him not to receive any more memories for quite a while. Not that he had not already given them quite a head start with his little stunt.

Loivissa still had not completely forgiven him for what he had been doing to her, but she did see the necessity in continuing on with her mission, although her attitude towards Mercury certainly had been colder than it was before. Not that that stopped Mercury from acting as he usually did.

Mercury had also informed Loivissa that during the years of peace after the decade of Bloody River, he had begun the construction of his armoury in order to secure his more sensitive contraptions from any other traitors among his own organization.

He had been unable to provide the name for the actual name of the place, which was why he had only found references to it as the armoury, but he knew exactly where it lay; on the deserted island of Vroengard, which was why they were currently a little north of Petrøvya and were travelling north during the wee hours of the morning.

When he had told her this, Loivissa had a feeling like she knew the place of which he spoke of, but could not quite recall what it was called or where she knew it from. This had later been explained by Mercury in that he had apparently reawakened the place's old guarding spells, which removed the memory of the name of the place for all who had heard of it or who did hear of it in the future, except a chosen few that neither of them were among, although he said that he had been able to, after much studying and trying, to alter the spells, so that you simply needed to speak the correct password instead of one's True Name.

Loivissa had to admit that it made for a pretty decent hiding place, as no one who read about it would remember what they had just read about, combined with the fact that if you somehow knew the location of the place, it would vanish at the slightest mention of its name. Lastly there was the password to pass, which meant that any who had somehow come this far would still have to know exactly which password Mercury had chosen in order to gain access. Not to mention the invisible tasteless poison in the air that had rendered Vroengard uninhabitable, so that the chances of someone just stumbling over it decreased even more drastically. All in all, a little paranoid for Loivissa's taste, but she could see the value in ensuring that even if Mercury somehow died, he would be sure that no one would ever find it and open it.

_What do you say to not having to eat meat for the next while?_, Mercury's voice suddenly cut into Loivissa's thought.

_I would love to_, Loivissa answered warily, _but it is still only early spring, so not much is in bloom, and we have no money to pay for it in the towns, even if we were to go there, which we cannot, as it would draw too much attention to ourselves._

_I know of a safe deposit nearby, which should have both gold and a pair of lenses for me_, Mercury answered,_…unless I removed it at a later stage._

_What are the odds that you did so?_, Loivissa questioned.

_Slim at best. My journals never mentioned me removing the deposits_, Mercury answered, _I made it after Elva's…and I do not think that I ever told anyone else about it. Besides, it is pretty well hidden, so I doubt that someone would have found it, but you can better see why when we get there, assuming you want to go?_

Loivissa considered his proposition for a moment, before she relented with a, _fine, show the way_.

A few hours later, Loivissa found herself standing on the shore of Tüdosten lake with Adûn and Kilgharrah flanking her on either side, while Mercury, who was only dressed in his undergarments, was floating out on the lake on a hastily crafted raft with a pretty large stone tied to his legs, while carrying his hunting knife in his left hand.

"You are sure that this is going to work?!", Loivissa shouted unconvinced.

Mercury took a quick look toward three seemingly random spots on the shore, before he shouted back in an almost amused voice, "it should be right here…and about 80 metres down!"

"How are you going to see it at that depth?!", Loivissa questioned. This entire endeavour only seemed to become an even worse of an idea the longer she thought about it, "and how are you going to get up in time if it is so far down, not to mention carry something as heavy as this with you?!"

"There should be a dwarven lantern tied to it that would illuminate the area…unless it has already run out of power. I do not exactly know when the last time I re-energized it is", Mercury shouted back in that same almost amused voice, "and do not worry about me getting up if I find it…if not, well, I will just have to see about that if it happens!", before he unceremoniously dropped the stone off the raft, which then quickly dragged him down with a splash.

_This is definitely a bad idea_, Loivissa mused worried, _first of all, he needs to get down within a radius of five to ten metres of the stash to even see the light, and have any hope of reaching it, assuming that the light is even still on and that he has not removed the entire stash since. Then he needs to quickly cut the stone from his legs before it drags him to the bottom. If he succeeds in that, then he still need to get to the stash and somehow transport it to the surface before running out of air, which he already will not have much of after he has reached the correct depth. Yes, this is definitely a bad idea! If he had told me this before he got out on the lake, I never would have let him get out there_.

As the seconds ticked by ever so slowly, Loivissa could almost already hear some of the council-members ask her how she had managed to get her assignment to kill himself, which she would then have to answer with, "I did not like to continue eating meat". Yeah, this had definitely been a very bad idea.

All too slowly, a minute passed. Then a minute and ten seconds, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixt-. At this point, a large brown leather ball breached the surface around where Mercury had submerged, which was followed a second later by Mercury's head. Now that Loivissa had something to measure it against, she could see that the ball was larger in diameter than Mercury's entire torso.

The sight of Mercury's head breaking the surface made Loivissa breathe in relief for a moment, while Mercury began to tow the apparently self-floating ball towards the raft, which he then quickly boarded and headed for land in.

"Do you have any idea how stupid this was?!", Loivissa shrieked the moment Mercury set foot on the shore, "you could have DIED! How was I going to explain that you had killed yourself, huh?! Do not EVER do something like this again, not even if we are starving and you know of another 'little safe deposit just out of the way' for us to use".

Mercury regarded her warily for a moment, waiting to see whether there was more she wished to say, before he slightly cowed said, "we do not need to worry about gold anymore, there is more than enough in here to buy a house and several horses, while still having plenty left to spend".

Loivissa was beyond furious at this point, to think that out of everything she said, he only responded to whether they would need gold after this, so she asked him the one question that had been pestering her mind since this began, "do you have a death wish or something?"

Mercury merely chuckled at this, before he answered in a half joking half serious voice, "only in the morning".

Loivissa did not know whether he was joking or not, he really could be doing both for all she knew, so she instead focused on what she did know what to do with, as she said in a less hostile voice, "let us have a look at this thing, shall we?"

Mercury quickly complied with her request and opened the leather ball, which upon opening released a hiss of air, before they could see the contents of it.

Inside of it there was: coin enough to do everything Mercury had said and more, some spare clothes, which mostly consisted of regular brown and dark green travelling cloaks along with a few tunics and leggings of varying sizes and colours, a pair of green contact lenses, which Mercury quickly took for himself, as he would need something to cover up his eyes when near other people. Then there were a few shortswords in their scabbards, and lastly Loivissa found a small silver bracelet, which she took from the pile to study further.

It had tree-like patterns carved on it, clearly resembling something of elven make, and on the top of it, there was a single round amethyst located at the centre. Loivissa found it beautiful, despite never having been one for wearing jewellery during the ordinary days. Its simplistic design almost added to the intrigue of it, like you knew that there had to be more to it, but it just would not let out its secrets.

Before Loivissa had any more time to study it, Mercury quickly snatched it from her hand, while saying that he would just take hold of that, although Loivissa had noted that he had done so immediately after seeing it in her hands, so it was obviously of some importance.

After quickly splitting the gold into two equal pots, making a list of what each of them were supposed to get while in the town and then heading south to the nearby Petrøvya, Mercury and Loivissa soon found themselves on its doorstep, while the dragons had been asked to remain hidden during their stay, as they wished to remain incognito.

"Remember our story", Mercury whispered to Loivissa as they passed the gate, "if anybody asks, we are travellers heading north, and if anybody realizes that you are an elf then-"

"Then the story is that you are a hunter, whose life I saved while you were hunting near Du Weldenvarden, and that you, as payment for me saving your life, promised to act as my guide throughout my tour of Alagaësia", Loivissa supplied effortlessly, before a thought struck her, "did you always plan on using this story if we encountered anyone else, because your whole bow and arrow thing, combined with your general attire really gives off the feeling of a true huntsman?"

"Yes, I did. I did mention earlier that the reason for bringing them along would either become obvious when they were needed or would be redundant if they were not", Mercury replied slightly amused.

When they reached the market uncontested, they quickly split up to begin buying each of their assigned parts. It was only then that Loivissa discovered the flaw in that plan; she was incredibly shy and nervous when around strangers and would often not take very kindly to any reprimands or jokes at her.

She had been able to get along well enough with Mercury, although this very same problem had also been there at the beginning of their journey, but now she knew him, sort of. Well, she knew what he was like around her, and she doubted that he could and would continue to manufacture the whole thing when he knew that she knew that he had tried to manipulate her, so there had to be at least some parts of it that originally belonged to him, right?

Quickly sneaking a glance over at Mercury, who was currently bargaining with a merchant for the price of wheat, she noticed that he was completely different now. His stance was different, his walk was different, his way of talking was different and even his very voice seemed slightly different, like it had an accent to it that reminded her of her father's slight accent.

_He is completely different in everything but his looks_¸Loivissa thought stunned, but was quickly cut off from any further musings by the male merchant in front of her saying in a sluggish voice, "oy lady, ye want something?"

"Wh-what?", Loivissa stammered, "I would like to buy-, I mean if you do not mind, then I would like some carrots. You sell carrots, right?"

The merchant, who was standing behind an entire stall full of carrots, merely eyed her oddly, before he flashed a toothed grin, where Loivissa noticed that he missed four teeth, as he said, "only the best in Surda. Tell you what, I will give you a special deal; ten carrots for ten golden crowns. That seems far right?"

Loivissa counted the coins in her purse, _eighty-seven gold crowns, meaning I can afford it, but will there be enough to both get us 50 carrots and the rest of my list?_, before she in a slightly cowed voice said, "I- I am sorry, but I do not know whether I can afford everything else if I buy them".

"What?! You mean to tell me that you were just goading me along, trying to take advantage of a hardworking earnest man giving you a fair deal?", the merchant loudly exclaimed, which seemed to draw attention towards them, something Loivissa definitely did not want.

"Well, I suppose-, since you did give me the offer-", Loivissa very nervously stammered out, while a crowd began to form around them, which only added to her already increasing nervousness.

She had almost handed the man the ten golden crowns, before a gloved hand, which she quickly recognized as Mercury's, landed on her shoulder, before he came forth in between herself and the merchant, almost like he was shielding her from him, and said, "I say that this is not a fair deal and that you are trying to take advantage of the young maiden here".

"Who are you?", the merchant asked suspiciously, "and what gives you the right to interfere with our dealings?"

"I may just be a hunter from Therinsford, but I know a dirty deal when I see one", Mercury said with disdain, "and as for my interest in the maiden here; I am her fellow companion on our journey back north. Now, you would not want the word to spread around town that you tried to take such an advantage against a defenceless maiden, do you?"

The merchant snorted at this, while sending a scowl both towards Mercury and Loivissa, although the one towards Loivissa was mostly blocked by Mercury's frame, before he dejected said, "nay, I would not. Let us discuss this as proper men then and leave the womenfolk to their things", which in turn made the crowd disperse.

Loivissa was quite angry at both Mercury's comment that she was defenceless and the merchant's comment, but she kept it inside, both to not disrupt the bargaining that was going on between the two of them, and because she really did not want to draw a crowd again.

In the end, Mercury managed to buy all 50 of the carrots for only half a golden crown, forty-nine and a half less than she had been about to give, before he lead her towards an empty alleyway, where she immediately said, "what made you say that I was a defenceless maiden?!"

"Well, you were giving off that feeling to everyone around you, so I just decided to take advantage of it", Mercury replied slightly amused, before he sobered and said, "now why did you almost give out that many crowns to that fraud? Do you not have any idea about values? And what is it with the shaking and stammering?"

"I-, I am not very comfortable around new people", Loivissa admitted hesitantly, "and I have never really had any need for buying anything before".

Mercury gave her an incredulous look, before he countered, "I understand the not buying thing, but you never acted that nervous around me when we first met?"

"Well, Adûn was there, and I am more comfortable when there is someone I know with me, especially if I do not know anyone else", Loivissa said ashamed, while keeping her head downcast, "I know that a dragon rider is supposed to be completely fearless, but I simply am not, and I often wonder whether Adûn even made the right choice".

Mercury took a deep breath, probably to calm himself for having to deal with such an inadequate rider, before he in a serious voice said, "listen to me", which made Loivissa look up, "no one, and I mean NO ONE is completely fearless. Everyone is afraid of something, some more than others, but it is not whether you are afraid of something that matters, it is whether you are willing to let that fear control your life that matters. The only reason that dragon riders are thought to be fearless is because they are able to hide their fear from others, so as to not discourage those that they protect, but I know for a fact that even your father was not without fears. He feared a lot of things, including himself and what he might become, but he chose to go forth anyway, and that is what made him the legend that he is today".

"You mean that even you fear something?", Loivissa asked slightly relieved. She had somehow begun to think of Mercury as completely fearless during his tales and their travels. Yes, he may have been broken a few nights ago, but he had not actually been afraid, just…shattered.

"I fear a lot of things", Mercury answered her without ever breaking eye contact, "some of them are comprehensible to you, like Kilgharrah dying for example, whilst others may be completely incomprehensible to anyone but me, and sometimes not even me".

"Then how do you prevent others from seeing your fears?", Loivissa asked astounded.

Mercury seemingly debated with himself for a while, before he said, "I do this. I take on the characteristics of a person that does not fear it".

"You mean you act like you do not fear it?", Loivissa asked confused.

"Well…no, not exactly", Mercury answered, "I actually take on the very persona of the person that I choose. His likes, dislikes, fears, strengths and even his way of walking and talking. I…become…him, sort of, but that is not something I want to discuss right now. For now, you need to act like you have always been used to being the centre of everyone's attention, like one of the pompous noblemen if you would like".

Loivissa thought for a moment about one, before she quickly picked one that had always seemed so full of himself to her, which she then quickly tried to emulate in her stance and look.

"Excellent", Mercury beamed excitedly, "but remember how this person makes you feel when around him and judge how he would affect others".

"But you just said-", Loivissa began, but was cut off by Mercury saying, "I know what I said, but that was to get you to understand what I meant. Now try to find somebody you know does well with the commoners in Estildirin".

Loivissa thought for a moment, before her choice fell on Celiste, which Mercury quickly rewarded with another, "excellent, good pick", before he continued, "now, I want you to go out and buy the next item on the list. The regular pricing is about 5 kg per crown, but everyone will try to haggle with you and expect you to try to too, so the starting price will be higher. Remember to think about how Celiste would react and remember that I am always right behind you to help if it becomes necessary, but try to do it without my help…and for the record, I do not think that Adûn chose wrong".

Loivissa gave him a quick nod, along with a grateful smile at the last comment, before they left the alley and went towards another stall. Three hours later, Loivissa had bought all the items on both their lists, with Mercury only interfering once or twice in the beginning, and she had learned that different people seemingly reacted differently to you when being one person or the next. Mercury had helped her by explaining that different people had different values and such, so depending on how you wanted something to turn out, some character traits were better suited than others to do different tasks, or even the same tasks.

Loivissa had thought the entire ordeal fun, something she would have never associated with meeting so many new people before. It was almost like one big dress-up game, where everyone tried to dress up according to one wish or the other.

Most only changed a select few things about themselves, while others, such as Mercury for example, literally became a whole different person. Mercury had then pointed out to her that almost everyone tried to do this during their very first encounter with somebody new, and that they would very often judge the other's character based on their first impression of the person, which was where the more talented negotiators and politicians were separated from the herd, as they would more accurately read the other person, while avoiding being read too easily themselves.

The experience had also almost made Loivissa forget about the manipulation thing, except for the fact that she had seen Mercury shift through so many completely different characters during their little training session/shopping trip that she had been forcefully reminded of how well he was at doing this.

Still, it had helped a lot on the awkwardness that had befallen them the past few days, so she supposed that all in all, it had been for the best. Not only for their relationship, but also in that it had given her a new outlook on everyday life, along with an idea of the actual prices of wares among the commoners.

_So, how was the trip?_, Adûn asked when they neared their agreed campsite.

_Fun_, Loivissa answered, before she showed him the memories of what had happened, which he grumbled slightly about, before he answered, _I think that the only people that change something about themselves when near others are people that do not rest in themselves, people that are afraid to show themselves to others_.

_But did you not see how much smoother everything went?_, Loivissa asked confused.

_Yes, it may work on small encounters with people that you will not meet again, but what if you are meeting someone that you are supposed to work with for an extensive amount of time, or whom you would like to get to know better?_, Adûn questioned.

_Then I would be me_, Loivissa quickly answered, which made Adûn hum in satisfaction, before he said, _yes, that would be the wisest thing to be. Never forget you are my rider and that I chose YOU because I found you worthy_.

Loivissa was naturally quite happy at this, before the thought struck her that Mercury had said something along the same lines, which then lead her to ask, _you said that you only think that those that do this are people that are afraid to show something of themselves to others, do you then think that since Mercury apparently switches entire personalities around, he is afraid to show anything of himself?_

_You caught on to that, did you_, Adûn replied not as a question, _I think that he is more afraid to get hurt than anyone else I have met, so he keeps his true self at a distance and only shows others one thing or another_.

_It makes me kind of sad_, Loivissa mused, _I wonder what he is really like?_

_Perhaps time will tell, dear_, Adûn replied, _for now we have to make do with what we have got_.

Their talk was soon cut short however by Mercury approaching with a somewhat forlorn look on his face. When Loivissa questioned him what was wrong, he replied that nothing was wrong and that he had in fact come to give her a gift for how well she did in the town…along with not leaving a few days ago.

The gift turned out to be the bracelet that Loivissa had seen in the stash, which she then quickly put on, where she found that it actually fit quite well. She did however notice that Mercury eyed the bracelet almost longingly out of the corner of his eyes, before he retreated back to his side of the camp.

She also checked the bracelet for any spells or enchantments, but aside from a simple one to prevent scratching, she found none. Just because she had begun to rekindle her relationship with Mercury did not mean that she trusted him yet, a decision that Adûn strongly agreed with.

* * *

Do not worry, I will go into further detail about why Mercury does what he does later in the story. It is actually a pretty crucial part of the story line that I have been developing since some of the early chapters, but it may have been too subtle for anyone to get in the first try, so I do not really expect anyone to know the real reason behind why he does this.

Also remember that the story is written from Loivissa's POV, so any assumptions are made in accordance with what she believes with the information given to her at the time.


	21. Travelling merchants

Wow, almost forgot to upload because I was caught up in reading another story.

I have recently decided to write a new chapter for the series as a sort of sidestory, which goes a little further into what happened between chapter 8 and 9, and I will be posting it in my new Sidestories story(the old Tale of a Ghost story renamed), so check it out once it comes back from my beta.

* * *

**Travelling merchants**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been 16 days since they had left Petrøvya, 13 days since Mercury had resumed his memory sessions again, despite Loivissa's objections that it was too early, as he had argued that by beginning then, he would be done about the time they reached Vroengard, and Loivissa and Mercury were currently walking near the Woadark lake in order to cross the Spine.

Loivissa had informed her brother about their new destination almost immediately after leaving Petrøvya and had also had to decline his offer of an escort, as the riders were needed elsewhere and there really was no danger to her mission, which was why it had been entrusted to a novice rider like her.

They had chosen to walk on the path like regular travellers, instead of flying on Adûn and Kilgharrah like they had previously, because the airspace in the Spine was teeming with dragon rider patrols, and since their mission was technically to be kept a secret from everyone but those that already knew of it, it would be hard to explain what a novice rider did in the Spine with a non-rider riding a wild dragon.

Adûn and Kilgharrah had therefore been required to wait in a cave nearby during the day and then catch up with them during the night. It had not been an arrangement that Adûn had liked very much, but it was necessary.

Mercury had resumed sharing what had happened during the Shadow War with Loivissa, despite her not sharing anything further with him, but it was still a very superficial view on what had happened. Not that Loivissa minded that, as her one peak into the not so superficial view of what happened had been more than enough for her to understand that pushing the Black Hand's forces back, or even a stalemate, was quite a bloody and gruesome affair.

So far, Mercury had narrated that when the Black Hand emerged from their little civil war, they had managed to not only kill most of his informers, destroy a good deal of his safe houses, killed two thirds of the upper echelon, but also take out or harass quite a few of the companies that provided the funds for Mercury's operations.

It was not that the war was quite as bloody now as it had been in the start, as both organizations had suffered severe casualties and were now only shadows of their former selves, but that did not mean that there was no blood spilling anymore, far from it.

A major reason behind their reduced sizes was Mercury's extreme aggression and ruthlessness during the Decade of Bloody River. Another was that it had become harder and harder for both parties to find willing candidates to work for them, even inadvertently, as the people of Alagaësia had begun to tire of the constant bloodshed, even the mercenaries and assassins.

It had only been during the last few years of his current memories that Mercury had managed to stabilize the situation and contain the damage to an acceptable level, although from what Loivissa had learned from her teachers, Mercury's version of acceptable was very different from hers.

"So, how does walking suit you?", Loivissa asked her companion in an attempt to just talk about anything, as they had not talked at all for the past four hours, while they trudged along the slightly muddied dirt road. Spring often came with a lot of rain, but it was still Loivissa's favourite time of year.

Mercury gave her a raised eyebrow, as if to say: really? Before he answered in a monotone, almost dull, voice, "I walked quite a lot in the past. Kilgharrah has never been much for letting anyone ride him when it is not strictly necessary".

"Oh!", Loivissa responded, "I just thought that you two- never mind", before the silence once again consumed them, only interrupted by the rhythmic sound of their boots hitting the ground.

The silence only lasted for another few minutes, before Loivissa exclaimed, "it should not always be me that has to initiate a conversation to break this deafening silence!"

"I do not mind the silence", Mercury merely responded, "I spent most of the last century only ever talking to a few individuals, and the only continued one being Kilgharrah, so I hardly notice it".

"Did your parents not teach you anything?", Loivissa snorted, before she realized what she had said.

"No", Mercury merely replied, although a bit firmer than before, "caravan".

"Huh?", Loivissa said confused, before she noticed the increasing dust cloud behind them, "should we avoid them?"

"Too late, they have already spotted us", Mercury responded without breaking stride, "keep going and remember our stories from before", which in turn made Loivissa draw up her hood to conceal her pointed ears, which were visible because she had decided to braid her hair into a ponytail like appearance this morning.

It was not long before the caravan reached them, at which point, Mercury and Loivissa stepped off of the road to let them pass, but to their dismay, the front wagon of the caravan stopped right before them.

The chauffeur of it, a middle-aged man with a big brown beard, loose fitting fur clothes and a slightly round but firm face, said with a firm voice, "what be ye travellers doing here, and alone, during such dangerous times?"

"We are on our way north to Narda", Mercury responded, once again slipping into that character that Loivissa had come to know as the hunter from the north. It was not a complete lie either, they were on their way to Narda…and then a bit further north, before they crossed the ocean to Vroengard.

The middle-aged man huffed thoughtfully at this, while stroking his beard in a thoughtful way and scrutinizing them closely, before he, in a gentler but still firm voice, said, "we are on our way to Teirm and have some extra room if you want to tag along. It is dangerous for travellers to travel alone these days. A shade roams the countryside and the dragon riders can do naught to stop it. I even heard that it managed to raze that warlock's fort up on Eregion. Bloody mess that was, entire village had to be relocated to seek aid with the urgals".

"Aye, my cousin said that you could see the smoke all the way from Daret", Mercury responded, "I suppose that it would be safer for us to travel along with you, but we have no money to give you and only food enough for us two to reach Narda, so we cannot pay you".

"It be alright, you can tell us a few stories or rumours from the south as payment", the man said, before he patted the seat next to him and said, "you can sit here, while ye wife sits with the rest of the women down in the wagon at the rear".

Mercury began to do as the man said, but Loivissa, who was not at all happy with the evolving arrangement, grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear, "what are you doing and why did you not correct him?"

"It would be suspicious to deny him", Mercury whispered back, "and since it will only be another day or two before we reach Teirm, it will not be worth the hassle to argue with them, especially when they are being this friendly. And about the wife thing, you cannot very well be my sister with our very different looks, and we do not actually have to act on their assumption, so it is easier to let them continue in their belief".

Loivissa huffed, but complied and headed for the rear wagon, but she did just manage to hear the wagon-driver ask Mercury if something was wrong, to which Mercury responded that she was just a bit nervous about not fitting in, which in turn made the man laugh lightly and assure Mercury that his wife would make sure that she was comfortable.

What the middle-aged man had said had indeed turned out to be true. The man and his wife, Aaron and Gerda, were the unofficial leaders of their little band of merchants, which travelled from Belatona and all the way to Teirm, before going further up north to Carvahall.

Gerda had made sure that the moment Loivissa hopped into the wagon, she had felt like there was no need at all to worry about appearances, as the wagon was only populated by middle-aged or younger unmarried women.

Loivissa had made sure to keep her hood up, despite the initial inquiries as to why, which she had explained with that she had deformities and wished to hide them, which also quickly made the women drop the subject.

The mood in the wagon had been light and merry for quite a while, almost three hours, although Loivissa had been slightly astounded, and more than a little embarrassed, when the conversation had suddenly steered into relationships and such.

Since everyone in the wagon assumed that Mercury and she was a married couple, they had been quite curious towards how they met, when they fell in love and more importantly it seemed, how Mercury performed his husbandly duties.

Her spluttering and stuttering during these questions had fortunately steered them away from the topic before she actually had to answer anything. Somehow, despite knowing that she really should not think like that, she wished that Mercury fared equally bad in his interactions, but when she had contacted him with her mind earlier, he had only been discussing the finer aspects of tracking an animal with Aaron, and she got the distinct impression that his conversation had never entered such a vulgar mood.

It was not long after that the caravan stopped and started to make camp, which allowed Loivissa to slip out for a few minutes, under the guise of needing to relive herself, in order to contact Adûn and Kilgharrah and tell them that they would have to remain out of sight until they split from the caravan.

When she had returned, the children that had previously been located in some of the middle wagons had come out to play. Loivissa counted at least 16 children, 10 boys and 6 girls of varying age from the cutest five-year old to some almost reaching puberty.

The older ones helped setting up tents or prepare food, while the younger boys duelled with sticks and the girls played hide and seek. It was with a small smile on her face that Loivissa watched a girl with auburn hair count to 100, while the rest scattered to their various hiding spots.

It took Loivissa by surprise when a little girl with red hair and freckles, perhaps no more than six years of age, chose to hide behind her red cloak with the cutest little pleading face that desperately wished for Loivissa not to reveal her hiding spot.

Chuckling lightly at her childish antics, Loivissa quickly promised not to reveal her hiding spot, which made the little girl beam excitedly, before she dug under the cloak. It turned out that the little girl's hiding spot had been the perfect spot for her to hide, as the auburn-haired girl had quickly found everyone but her.

The auburn-haired girl had not had a clue about where the red-haired one had hidden until she had walked past Loivissa, which made the red-haired one under Loivissa's cloak giggle just loud enough for the auburn-haired one to hear and figure out where she had hidden.

When the auburn-haired girl had suddenly lunged towards Loivissa's cloak in an attempt to capture the red-haired one, the red-haired one had tried to escape, but in the struggle to get away, she accidentally managed to make Loivissa's hood fall down, which fully exposed her pointed ears for everyone to see.

A collective gasp could be heard from everyone at the camp, which only served to make Loivissa highly uncomfortable and fidget with her hands.

"You… you are an elf!", a woman shrieked, before, to Loivissa's great surprise, Gerda intervened by stepping in front of her and commanding in a stern voice, "you lot need to get back to setting up camp or we will have to eat raw food and sleep under the stars. I will take care of this matter, so get moving!"

Loivissa shot Gerda a grateful look, which was met with one of suspicion, before she was shooed off towards a secluded area, where Aaron shortly after came with Mercury in tow. Mercury gave a sigh upon seeing her, before he moved to her side, as Gerda moved to her husband's.

"Now, ye have some explaining to do", Aaron started with a stern look, "firstly, why try to deceive us?"

It was Mercury who responded first, which Loivissa was grateful for, as she had never really been much for being under scrutiny, "my companion and I were on our way to Narda, but since elves are so rare in the Empire, aside from the dragon riders, I requested that she hide her heritage in order to not create so much of a fuss everywhere we went".

Aaron gave her a hard look, before he returned his attention to Mercury and asked, "I am guessing that you two are not married either", which both Mercury and Loivissa quickly confirmed with a shake of their head, before he continued, "so…tell me how you really met and why you are headed for Narda".

"We met when she saved my life while I was hunting near Du Weldenvarden", Mercury quickly replied, "I offered her what coin I had, but she refused my offer. When I then asked her if there was not anything that I could do for her, she requested that I show her the land of humans from a human's perspective".

"We started our journey by sailing down the Edda river and then further down the Âz Ragni, before we moved through the dwarven kingdom and emerged on the eastern border of Surda", Loivissa supplied, "since then, we have moved from town to town, slowly making our way north".

"Why would an elf such as you want to see our lands?", Aaron asked suspicious.

"I have never been out of my home before", Loivissa replied, "I was curious as to how the other people lived. Please do not blame my companion, he is but my guide and is only doing this because of the debt he owes me".

Aaron still seemed doubtful, but his worries were waylaid when Gerda tucked at his arm and said, "oh, stop it Aaron. Do you not remember how anxious we were the first time we went outside of our birth town? It is no wonder that the poor girl would not want to draw any more attention to herself than she could when she was in a completely foreign land without others of her kin. But oh my…now I understand why you seemed so perplexed during the ride. Our remarks and notions must have seemed so inappropriate to you, given your…situation".

Mercury gave her an inquisitive look, which made her blush slightly, before Aaron recaptured his attention, "I suppose that I could- I mean, I will allow you to remain with us until we part", he quickly corrected after a death glare from his wife, "in fact, you should have even more interesting stories to tell now that you do not have to hide your identity. Perhaps you could even teach our resident bard a thing or two".

"You have a bard?", Mercury inquired.

"Yes, it is tradition that he performs the night before we enter a new city, so you absolutely must stay another night", Aaron replied, seemingly back into his good mood again.

Shortly after that, Mercury and Loivissa were allowed back into the camp after Aaron and Gerda had explained the situation to the rest of the merchants. The women seemed slightly more wary of Loivissa than before, although the men's reaction to Mercury had been the exact opposite for reasons Loivissa could not guess.

The first person to speak to Loivissa, after her heritage had been revealed, turned out to be the little freckled red-haired girl, who nervously came forward when Loivissa was in the middle of raising a small tent, which they had been giving before the revealing of her heritage, so that they would not sleep under the naked sky, although Mercury had since then decided to make his nest in a tree next to where Loivissa had chosen to put up the tent.

"Excuse me miss…I think that your hair is really pretty, and I was wondering how you made it", the girl nervously said.

Loivissa took one look at her own braided hair, before looking at the girl's, which was quite a bit more unruly but still long enough to reach her upper back, before Loivissa drew a comb and threw the little girl a reassuring smile, while saying, "would you like yours to look the same way as mine or do you have another preference?"

The girl seemed slightly indecisive at first, Loivissa only just managed to wonder whether she had crossed some sort of line, before the girl beamed at her and excitedly said, "I want it just like yours!"

Half an hour later, the little girl ran around camp and showed off her newly combed and braided hair, and the tent had still not been raised. Not long after this, Loivissa found herself near one of the wagons, surrounded by girls of all ages, all of them wanting their hair done, although some wanted it done in a different way than others.

Loivissa thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the children; they seemed so happy and so carefree. Some of the more mature women had even joined their little gathering, which soon made Loivissa feel like everything was the same as it was before her heritage had been revealed.

She could still remember, with a small smile on her lips, how Mercury had stumbled upon their little group, after which he had pinched his nose and smiled slightly while shaking his head, before he had disappeared once again.

"Was that man your husband?", one of the girls squeaked with a giggle, before another joined in, "you arrived together and he is clearly not your relative, so he must be","Oh, how romantic", a third joined in before Loivissa could protest.

"No, no, he is just helping me find my way through the land", Loivissa denied.

"So he is unmarried and available?", one of the younger unmarried women there piped in.

"Well…I do not think that he is married…", Loivissa responded, not at all liking where this was going, "but…I do not think that he is available either. I mean, I do not think that he has someone special right now, but…erhh…it is complicated".

"Well, either he is available or he is not, which is it?", the woman continued.

Why this woman was so interested in Mercury's status, Loivissa had no idea. Well, she supposed that since they did look around the same age and were of the same species, the woman could have some…attraction… to him, but he was NOT the woman's age, he was not even Loivissa's age...but of course this woman did not know that, and Loivissa could not just tell her, but how to deter her somehow else?

Loivissa was unfortunately saved from this by Gerda appearing and saying, "now, now, my beautiful ladies", which made quite a lot of the girls giggle, "it is time for bed, so up you go and say goodnight to the kind lady".

A chorus of "night night, sleep well, see you tomorrow", could be heard, before only Loivissa and Gerda remained. Loivissa initially thought that Gerda would leave as well, but she chose to accompany her towards Loivissa's tent.

"I am sorry for Isabella's behaviour, but she is nearing that age and wants so desperately to marry someone and have children", Gerda said while they walked.

"I understand", Loivissa replied, "I just do not think that it would be wise to focus her efforts on my companion".

"Yes, I think that everyone but her got that idea", Gerda said amused, to which Loivissa merely looked curiously at her, before she explained, "you might as well have been a lioness protecting her kill against prowlers".

"Wha- what?", Loivissa stuttered, "I am not- I mean, I do not consider him my kill- erh, mine, at all".

"Easy there", Gerda said calmingly, "I did not mean to offend, but how else would you explain your travels with him? I know that you say that he is your guide, but from the stories I have heard of the elves, you are far beyond needing the help of us humans. I am sorry for being rude, but what other explanation might there be?"

_I have been ordered by the dragon rider council to escort the infamous Mercury Iridium across Alagaësia to find his armoury, so that he can hunt down the shade!_, Loivissa shouted mentally, although she only said, "I wanted to know how humans lived, and he has helped me very much in understanding this. Something that I could not have done without his aid, but now I must depart, for I have forgotten to set up the tent that you have so graciously spared me".

Gerda stopped walking and looked Loivissa directly into the eyes, before she said, "I do not judge people as easily as others, and nor do I spread malicious rumours, so you have no need to fear me doing so", and before she left, she said across her shoulder with a wink, "and I do not think that you need to worry about setting up your tent", which made Loivissa look at where she expected her half-raised tent to be, only to find a fully-raised one standing there.

"I noticed that you enjoyed spending time with the children", Mercury remarked from his perch in the tree next to the tent, which made Loivissa jump slightly in surprise, before she responded, "yes, I always liked children. Thanks for setting up the tent by the way".

"I had nothing better to do", Mercury merely shrugged it off, "so, why were you discussing why we are travelling together?"

"It does not matter", Loivissa quickly replied, "it is settled and she will not inquire about it any further".

A silence stretched between them, before Loivissa cautiously said, "so…have you ever thought of having children? Or getting married or whatever you would do?"

"No", Mercury simply replied.

"Why not?", Loivissa inquired, the very idea unfathomable to her. She knew that she wanted to have children someday, she had known since she was a little girl and the urge to get some still lingered in her veins.

"I do not believe that I would make for a good…father figure", Mercury replied.

Not knowing how to change his mind about that, or even why she wanted to, Loivissa merely bade him a goodnight, before she retired for the evening.

They spent the rest of the next day largely the same as the previous one, although there were quite a lot more questions directed at Loivissa about three primary subjects: 1; how do you manage to look so splendid? 2; What is elven society like? And 3; what has happened so far in your journeys?

Loivissa did not mind the first and second subjects, as she was more than fairly familiar with both, but the third subject did make her a little uneasy, as she was not used to having to fabricate a lot of stories and details to others, although it was made easier by her and Mercury using almost the same route in their story as they had really used, so she decided to simply tell the truth…or as much of it as she could without revealing anything too incriminating.

Later during the communal bonfire that had been built for the night event of having the bard perform, Loivissa and Mercury were sharing a log, although there was still a respectable amount of distance between them.

Loivissa had been amazed at the bard's many tales. Some were fun, some sad, some romantic and some heroic, and quite a few of both the romantic and heroic ones were about her parents, which had her blushing slightly upon hearing them.

Suddenly one of the younger men shouted towards the bard, who had just finished his last tale about 'The fair maiden of Du Weldenvarden' "I want to hear 'The Tale of a ghost'!"

"Yes, let us hear that one", more piped in, before the bard finally complied and set the tune.

**AN: The melody is 'The dragonborn comes' from Skyrim.  
**Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

Our story begins  
at a time of unrest  
our saviour was young  
yet a hope he had become

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

To the lands of unknown  
our saviour travelled to  
to collect one that could aid  
aid in a time of unrest

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

A man there he found  
a man with a calling to come  
come to the aid  
of a land in unrest

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

The man was young  
his knowledge of us none  
yet he dared to come  
come to lands of unrest

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

With kings he made deals  
with queens he made vows  
to conquer that which  
they could not

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

His task was hard  
his challenges many  
but he who had come  
would make them undone

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

Of honour he thought none  
of glory he gained none  
for he who had come  
cared for none

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

In Urû'baen of Black, he died as he fought  
and travelled to the lands of Angvard, or so we thought  
but his work was not finished  
so to rest, he could not go

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

With Angvard, he made a deal  
a deal of his life  
in exchange for the time  
the time to complete his task

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

And so he returned  
but not as he came  
his soul had died  
his eyes shone death

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

As a man he had come  
but as a ghost he had become  
he went through walls  
and scaled towers tall

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

For years he searched  
searched for those who would destroy  
what peace he had helped  
to create in Urû'baen of Black

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

His search unending  
his soul undying  
for he has pledged  
to Angvard of Dead

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

After many a year  
his foe was found  
their era of fear  
something no longer around

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

His task now finished  
his time among us up  
but a deal he had made  
and a deal he must keep

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

In exchange for the time  
the time to finish his task  
Angvard had him  
perform his own task

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

And so he now goes  
to collect those that die  
in eternity he must serve  
for a deal he had made

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

If two orbs of silver  
you see in the darkness of night  
then you must know  
that your time is near right

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

For a ghost now walks  
to collect those that die  
among us he walks  
as a ghost of the night

Oh come here, oh come here  
and hear the tale  
of a ghost

"Wow…I did not think that the ordinary people viewed you as such", Loivissa whispered to Mercury low enough to make sure that they were not overheard.

"I suppose that is inevitable that this occurs when bards are given a century of exaggeration and misunderstandings without anyone ever correcting them", Mercury replied seemingly unconcerned in an equally low whisper.

"Why did you not ever bother to correct them then?", Loivissa inquired.

"To what point? The truth of what happened is far lesser and far more complicated than a bard's tale can ever account for", Mercury responded with a shrug, "besides, I never knew that much more than anyone else about what actually happened, so it would have been impossible for me to correct them, even should I have wished to come out of my exile. This particular tale is however one of my favourites, as it tells the tale of what I presumed happened".

"You mean that you turned into a ghost to forever stalk the night?", Loivissa said confused.

"No, it tells the story of a man, who became so devoted to his task that he forgot how to live afterwards. He became a ghost of a sort, although the part about him collecting souls for Angvard is ludicrous, but that is just artistic freedom, I guess", Mercury responded.

"Oy, what are ye whispering about over there", Aaron shouted from across the campfire.

"My companion was curious as to the nature behind the bard's tale", Mercury responded bluntly for everyone to hear, "I argued that I thought it was about someone, who became so devoted to what they were doing that they could not find rest afterwards, even in death, but that is just my interpretation of it".

"I think it is about sacrifice", a man a little away piped in, which made Mercury respond with a, "how so?"

"You know, this bloke came from some place far away and had never heard of us, yet he sacrificed his life and soul for us", he explained.

"I think I agree with you on that", Loivissa suddenly said from beside Mercury.

"Oh, do you now?", Mercury responded as he looked at her, "from what I heard, he became just as bad as those that he tried to extinguish".

"Yes exactly, he sacrificed his soul to protect everyone else", Loivissa argued, "it was noble of him".

"He is certainly not noble in my book", Mercury snorted.

"Knock it off you two", Aaron interrupted, "it is just a bard's tale. It has nothing to do with us, so let us not spoil this evening with such thoughts".

Mercury and Loivissa reluctantly agreed to drop the subject and continue to enjoy their last evening together with the merchants.

* * *

Well, I know that I am not exactly the best at rhymes and the like, so you do not need to point it out(I think that this is actually the only one I have ever paid any more interest in than what was required by my teachers, and I have never bothered with making anyone myself before).

That being said, I do still feel some kind of...writer's wish for perfection...for it, so I will repeat myself and say that if anyone has any improvements that does not alter the meaning, feel free to indulge me.


	22. Dark thoughts in bright light

You guys are seriously lucky that my updating schedule is not dependant upon the amount of reviews that I get. I have in the last three chapters had Mercury discover Elva's(a person of immense importance to him) betrayal, order her death, go on a decade-long rampage over it, mentally break down in real time, confess that he has been manipulating Loivissa since day 1 and I have begun to repair their relationship and show Mercury's current state of mind, yet no other reviews than a name mistake has been submitted for this.

Well, after some research into what most people actually write in other's reviews, I have discovered the reason why; they most often encourage to update again soon, but since my story's updates are always constant, all of those naturally go out the window. Still, I had expected some reactions, good or bad, about the developments.

* * *

**Dark thoughts in bright light**

**Loivissa POV(nine days later)  
**"…No! You did not!", Loivissa said with barely controlled laughter.

"I did!", Mercury confirmed with a shrug, "cost me quite a large amount of gold to procure a diamond of that size, only to have it shattered into a million fragments without any noticeable results".

Mercury and Loivissa were currently camped on the northern tip of the bay just north of Narda. They had arrived there that very same noon, but had agreed to wait with crossing the sea to Vroengard until the next morning, so now they simply talked over a roaring campfire. Kilgharrah had drifted off to sleep earlier, although Adûn was still awake.

The tale Mercury had currently been telling was of how he, during his time at Nolondil, had tried to capture and store the energy in lightning inside a diamond by using some sort of metal contraption with a self-invented enchantment to convert the energy of the lightning to magical energy that could be stored in the diamond at the end of it.

The experiment had been conducted at the tip of Eregion and had seemed to be working well at first…until the enchantment had overloaded, which led to an uncontrollable amount of energy flowing into the diamond that then shattered along with the rest of the contraption as a result of the sheer force of the lightning.

Mercury had been hit by excess lightning as well, which he had described as being tingly, but not something he would repeat if he could avoid it. That particular part had both made Loivissa worried and amused. Worried in the fact that she did not know of anybody to have ever survived being hit by lightning, and amused in that she found the entire setup, considering that no one had been harmed permanently, hilarious.

In the memories, Mercury had reached a point where he had finally been able to push back this new leader of the Black Hand, although no one had been able to even determine who he was, and Loivissa knew by the time of events that the war would end very soon, just three days from now exactly, which would fit well with them crossing the sea tomorrow and then journeying to the armoury the day after, before Mercury viewed the last bit of memories needed for him to find the password on the third day.

Loivissa had furthermore learned that during the time between the weariness of the Alagaësian people during their crossing of the Spine and now, the public perception of the war had changed dramatically. Before, people may have been tired of it, but now they had actually come to view it as something almost fundamental to their everyday life.

It had become so common to think of the war between Mercury and the Black Hand, which was how the commoners viewed it, as two immortal beasts locked in an eternal struggle to the death, each simultaneously trying to slowly choke the life out of the other. Some had even come to fear that a victor would ever be found, because they had come to believe that if one emerged victorious, it would devour everything and everyone around it, even the sun and the stars, until nothing but darkness remained.

Loivissa had heard a little from her teachers of the cults formed during those dark times, which revered both Mercury and the Black Hand as demigods and conducted rituals to appease them, but she had always found them detestable, which she had discovered that Mercury did too, even those that worshipped him.

"I still cannot believe that Kilgharrah did not stop you from doing it", Loivissa said, while shaking her head with laughter, "I mean, I know that he trusts you, but even my father would have never in his wildest dreams have thought of doing something so…utterly unthinkable".

"We have an agreement that states that neither of us can dictate what the other can and cannot do, although negotiating is quite commonplace", Mercury simply replied, "besides, it is because I do things never even considered before that I make progress. Had the experiment been a success, it could have resulted in a clean and plentiful supply of energy to use for other things".

"What other things? Nothing we enchant requires more energy than can be easily supplied by ourselves, or else we simply store up energy for a while to prepare for it", Loivissa questioned curiously.

"Nothing", Mercury swiftly replied, apparently realizing that he had spoken too much, "at least nothing that will ever be with the state of things here".

"Huh?", Loivissa said confused, not expecting a reply and not getting one either. It was only after she remembered that Mercury was actually not originally from Alagaësia, although her father had never really told anyone where Mercury was originally from, that she understood.

"So…what was it like there? Your homeland, I mean", Loivissa questioned cautiously. She knew that he had very often simply clammed shut whenever she even neared a topic from before he was brought here, but he had been sharing this night, so perhaps she could squeeze just a little bit out of him.

Mercury looked immediately alarmed at her question, but swiftly returned to his original calm exterior, while looking thoughtfully at her for a while, before he gave a sigh and said, "it was…very different. There were only humans there, no elves, dwarves, urgals or dragons…and absolutely no magic".

"No magic? How did your society, or your species for that fact, survive without?", Loivissa questioned astonished. Magic was what was used to heal the ill, keep Du Weldenvarden growing, shape the homes of most elves and so much more that Loivissa could not even begin to count all the things magic was being used to.

"Humans…learned to get by, to do without the aid of magic, although I am unsure of whether they are still living anymore. It has been so long since I last saw and heard anything of it that I am unsure of what have happened since", Mercury admitted hesitantly and vaguely.

"Can you not go home then? Even for a short visit?", Loivissa asked saddened.

"No! I chose to remain anchored here. Going back there would be pointless now, as I will be severely out of date, and therefore there is nothing to go back to", Mercury said forcefully.

Not knowing how to respond to that, Loivissa tried a different approach, "what about your family? How were they, or how was your childhood for that matter? I know that you do not usually like to talk about such things, but I feel like you know everything about me, and yet I only know so little of you", Loivissa tried to coax him, giving a small jab at how he had used her trust to reveal herself to him previously.

Mercury took a hard look at her, obviously noticing the jab and her uncommon use of such tactics, before he in a matter of fact, like he was reading the facts right off a sheet of paper, voice said, "I am the only child to my parents, they died when I was three, and I was therefore raised in an orphanage until I turned 16 and moved away. My original last name is not Iridium, but I changed it when I turned 18. My childhood was rough, but served to teach me valuable lessons. There, is that enough?"

As it turned out, the information had only served to make Loivissa wonder about even more questions than before. Why did he change his last name, and what was it before? Why was his childhood rough, and what had he been taught?

She however chose to only say the both most prudent and important thing, "I am sorry about your parents. How did they die?"

Mercury had a sneer on his face for just a fraction of a second, before he responded with a shrug, "suicide".

_I definitely need to steer clear of that topic in the future_, Loivissa mused to herself, before another thought struck her, "was it hard to leave it all behind and come here?"

"No", Mercury replied with another shrug, "I never really had anything that tied me there, so it was actually rather easy, although if I had known beforehand what would have happened, I would probably have needed a whole lot more of convincing".

"Are you complaining about the future I gave you?", came an unexpected voice from the dark recesses of their camp.

Both Mercury's and Loivissa's heads snapped towards the intruders location, only to see a woman of short stature with a thick curly brown hair and flashing eyes, although Loivissa was in doubts on whether that was because of the fire's flicker. On her body there was a green and brown travelling cloak, a sword, which had a very different looking sheath than Loivissa was used to, hung at her side and next to her a cat walked, although it was almost invisible in the dark.

"Angela, what brings you here?", Mercury replied shortly after, like he was merely greeting an old expected friend and not some woman who had just turned up out of nowhere, although the name Angela did make Loivissa shudder as she said, "The Angela? The same one who helped my father and who my mother has talked about? "

"Now how would I know who your mother has told you about silly girl?", Angela replied in an amused tone, while almost bouncingly strolling through the camp and setting herself right beside Mercury, which Loivissa noted that Mercury shied just a little away from, while Solembum in the meantime decided to stroll over to Adûn, "so tell me Mercury, are you regretting making the decision to hear your future?"

"It is too late for me to consider the what ifs, so that is without a point", Mercury merely replied, not hostile but not friendly either, "why are you here?"

"You are always such a boring person to talk to", Angela replied with a small pout, before she redirected her attention towards Loivissa, "and who is this then? The daughter of Eragon and Arya has finally been allowed on her very first mission to Alagaësia. Well, I suppose that is to be suspected when you consider that you are the only novice rider ready for escorting Mercury here, and that everyone else is doing their other duties".

Loivissa did not know how to respond to that or how Angela even knew those things, which were strictly confidential, even among the riders, but fortunately she did not have to, as Mercury saved her by more firmly saying, "why are you here, Angela?"

"I like to be where things happen", Angela replied, as if it was as clear as daylight, "besides, I would like to see the pair of you encompassed in such relaxing environments for myself. You have quite the interesting future to make, one that I almost cannot wait to see".

"What future?", Loivissa questioned confused.

"Why, your future of course silly girl", Angela happily replied, "you really should think before you speak, but then again, you are young".

"Do not try to confuse her", Mercury cut in, "I know that you do not get physically involved in something unless it either serves your purpose or gives you a better view of what is going to happen, and I am not allowing you to tag along".

"Pish posh, always to the point with you", Angela said undisturbed by Mercury's rudeness, "but since you insist, I might as well ask. How has that memory spell worked out so far? Did it have any flaws in it or has it proven unreliable in any way?"

"I am guessing that you made it", Mercury said not as a question, "so I will answer that it has worked fine and without major glitches until now".

"How wonderful to know", Angela happily said, "I must admit that I was a bit anxious to have its first user, but you seem to have come out well and unscathed from it…well, as well as one could expect from experiencing that again. Nasty business that war was. Anyway, now that I know what I came to know, I will just depart", and within a few moments, both she and Solembum had disappeared into the night again.

"What did she mean by 'the future that I gave you'?", Loivissa asked after enough time had passed that she knew that Angela would not be nearby.

"She read my future in Dras Leona during the war against Galbatorix", Mercury replied, "I suppose I am fulfilling part of it now. It is almost laughable how true her prophecy is, while it at the same time is as obscure as a fog before you realize that you are right in the thick of it".

"She prophesised that you would travel with me to rediscover your armoury and defeat a shade?", Loivissa asked.

"No, she prophesised that I would need to confront my past in order to move towards the future", Mercury corrected her, "I suppose that makes more sense now than it ever has".

"How so?", Loivissa said intrigued, "you seem to be always moving forward and planning ahead, so how can you not already move towards the future?"

"I…well, my…I suppose I should say that I am not", Mercury confessed, although in a strange way to Loivissa, "I…have thus far been trapped in the past, my past. It has not been…easy…for me to let go of what happened. I suppose that would also explain my construction and inhabitation of Nolondil and my unwillingness to let go of it and move forward".

"But you built it to be your home for centuries?", Loivissa said confused.

"To keep me rooted and occupied actually", Mercury admitted.

A silence descended upon them after that. Loivissa, not knowing what to say, while Mercury seemingly unwilling to say anymore on the subject. For a long time, the only noise that could be heard was the crackles of the fire.

During this time, Loivissa absentmindedly noticed that the moon's position in the sky was quite a lot higher than what she had thought it to be. Evidently, they had talked longer than usual, as she would have usually gone to sleep several hours ago already, but somehow, she did not feel like it now.

"What do you know about True Names?", Loivissa mused to Mercury.

"They are the names in the Ancient language of a single individual, which if spoken by another individual can control your every action", Mercury gave the textbook answer, "why do you ask?"

"I think that mine has changed since I left Estildirin", Loivissa supplied, "already, I feel that the further I venture on this journey, the more it changes. It is…both frightening and exhilarating".

"Do you view it as a bad change?", Mercury asked curiously.

"No, not exactly, it is just there, you know?", Loivissa tried to explain, "I wonder if this makes me weak-minded that I so easily change who I am?"

"A rider's first mission always changes the rider", Mercury supplied somewhat comfortingly, "It does not make you weak, but rather insightful that you have noticed it already, as most only discover this sometime after when it is pointed out to them".

"You sound as if you know of this?", Loivissa asked.

"I have seen it first-hand many times", Mercury replied, "take for example Fagosh the Grey, as you call him. Did you know that the very first of his grey heavy cloaks that he always wears, was actually one of my own, which he gained during his very first mission to figure out whether I had magic?"

"No, you must have influenced him a lot for him to pick up that trait", Loivissa answered.

"I suppose I did, but as you now know, it is not uncommon for this to occur", Mercury said with a simple shrug.

"Do you know how many times your True Name has changed?", Loivissa asked with a small grateful smile in response to Mercury's reassurance that it was natural.

"I would not know", Mercury simply replied.

"Why?", Loivissa asked confused.

"In order to know that, I would need to first know my own True Name", Mercury said with a shrug.

"You do not?", Loivissa asked thoroughly confused at the declaration.

"I…made a study into it quite a few decades ago", Mercury tentatively replied, "I decided to end it after a couple of years of no progress. It is after all just a name, which will change as I live, so there seemed to be no point in wasting effort on trying to learn it, when it could change the very next year".

"But…are you not curious as to who you are? What your good and bad qualities are, and what you value most?", Loivissa questioned delicately, sure that if she moved forward too fast, he would clam shut again.

"If I knew those things, I would already know my True Name", Mercury simply responded, "as I do not, I do not know my True Name. It is a circle in that way, one cannot know one without the other".

"But surely you know of your own strengths and faults? How can you not even remotely know of them?", Loivissa continued to question.

Mercury looked contemplative for a while, before he eventually answered, "I know that right now, I like certain things, while I dislike others, but in a moment, those opinions could change along with my personality. This was actually what proved to be the reason for my lack of progress, as I could name a hundred different things that I either like or dislike, sometimes at the same time, but none of them seemed to be truly me…they are the traits of the personas that I use, I think".

_That finally answers my question!_, Adûn suddenly said inside Loivissa's head, _I had been wondering why he kept these charades up constantly, and now I know. I was mistaken earlier when I said that he was afraid to show the true him to anyone. He has actually just forgotten who he is supposed to be, and therefore let himself drift between one charade and the next, as that is all he knows_.

_Are you sure of this?_, Loivissa questioned, saddened on Mercury's behalf if this turned out to be true.

_Positive dear_, Adûn replied, _it makes perfect sense. His inability to discover anything about his True Name, his mentioning of his prophecy to be stuck until he confronts the past and why he always keeps up the act, it all leads to the conclusion that he is mentally trapped_.

_Should we tell him?_, Loivissa asked.

_That is up to you, dear_, Adûn replied.

"Mercury…Adûn have a theory as to why you could not figure out your own True Name", Loivissa warily started, "he says that you may have forgotten who you really are and are drifting between self-made personalities as a result of this. Is it true?"

"It is", Mercury confirmed with a noncommittal shrug, "it has been a long time, nearly three decades, since I knew for certain what emotions were my own…well, except for one actually".

"So long…", Loivissa breathed out the words in exasperation, before carefully asking, "which one is that?"

"Anger", Mercury responded with a slightly darker face than usual, like he was angry at even saying it, "the only emotion that I have been certain about for three decades is anger. My anger and wish for revenge are what drives me now, the only things I have left, and the shade has managed to garner them all upon him".

"But…that cannot be true", Loivissa said shocked, "surely you must be sure of something else? What would you do after all of this if that is true?"

Mercury gave a dark humourless laugh at this, before he responded, "it is true. Your father even knew of it, but he wanted to direct and focus my rage towards where it could be of use. As for what I would do after all of this…I honestly do not know, nor do I care anymore. Life is after all just a continuous collection of memories, while you wait to die, like a book constantly being written until the writer finally closes it".

"No, that is not true!", Loivissa protested vehemently, "How can you even say that?! Life is so much more than that! It is…it is talking with friends, smelling the flowers of a garden or viewing the sunset, exploring the unknown, doing what makes you happy, it is…NOT just a collection of memories!"

Mercury seemed to regard her for a while after her outburst, before he intrigued said, "you know, I think that this is the first time you have ever opposed me so directly. Does it really matter so much to you what I think of life?"

"Yes, it does!", Loivissa shouted, "if you do not know how to truly live life on your own, then-…then you should let others help you! I could talk to my father, perhaps we could arrange for you to teach in Estildirin. This journey has shown me that there is so much more you could learn the new riders, like unarmed combat for example, or tracking someone, or thinking outside the box. I could help keep you on your toes and help you figure out how to properly live your life and who you are while you are there".

"…perhaps someday that could be true", Mercury hesitantly answered, "but for now, we should focus on what is in front of us", and before Loivissa could add anything, he continued, "it is late, much later than you should have been up to considering the journey tomorrow. Go to sleep, I shall keep watch while you rest".

Loivissa did not manage to reply that he should rest too, before he vanished into the darkness of the night. As she prepared to go to the sleep-like trance, her only thoughts were of how she could help Mercury out of his inner turmoil when all of this was over.

* * *

My beta, RoguesMum, said that this chapter made Mercury seem more human. If human means broken, then I fully agree on that. And in case you did not pick up on it, then Mercury has been depressed for a few decades now. Recent events have only forced his depression more to light.


	23. Surprises around every corner

Small note at first: remember that Eragon did not learn the Word and therefore did not name either the burrow-grubs or shadow-birds, although it is my impression that they already had a name in the Ancient language and Eragon merely changed it. I mean, if the Ancient language is tied so closely to the world, then surely everything created in it would get a name upon creation, even if no one knows what that name is, as the vocabulary would otherwise always be constricted to what exactly was around at the time of the Ancient langauge's binding. That would also mean that unless the Grey folk covered the entire globe and knew all of the species of plants and so on in Alagaësia, those plants would not have a name in the Ancient language, which they have been shown to actually have.

Oh, well enough musings from me and onwards with the story.

* * *

**Surprises around every corner**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been two days since Loivissa and Mercury had crossed the sea to Vroengard. When they had arrived, Mercury had insisted that they follow a specific route across Vroengard in order to avoid the poison that had rendered the entire island uninhabitable, as he had apparently cleansed that specific route soon after beginning to use the armoury, as he had apparently found it 'tiring' to continue wasting energy on wards.

Currently, they were right in front of the massive rock that housed Mercury's armoury. Loivissa guessed that it had to be at least 60 metres high, while junipers and moss covered the sides of it. Occasionally a shadow-bird would fly from one branch to another, which always managed to make Loivissa shudder just a little.

One moment, a vague shadow and a pair of white eyes would be all that you could see in the trees, and that was only when you knew where to look and focused on it, while in the next moment an owl-looking bird would then suddenly launch from that shadow and take flight.

Besides making her shudder, the experience always made Loivissa immediately grab for her sword, although she had yet to draw it, as she did know about the creatures, which had been a part of her curriculum back in Estildirin.

Mercury on the other hand seemed to be wholly unaffected by the birds, not even breaking stride or sparing them a single glance when they suddenly materialized. Loivissa deemed that it was most likely because he had an intimate knowledge of the creatures' mind-set, combined with the sheer amount of time he had spent here during the Shadow War, that he had grown accustomed to their presence.

Speaking of the sun, Mercury had refused to even approach the topics that they had discussed three nights ago since then, although Loivissa had kept on insisting that he really should talk about it. It seemed that whatever brief window of sharing he had had back then had closed again.

Loivissa found it quite frustrating, but knew that nothing she did could force him to open up again, she was surprised that he had revealed so much in the first place, as, it seemed, was he. In fact, she was pretty sure that the more she pushed for him to open up, the longer it would take for him to ever do something like that again, so she kept the pushing to a minimum.

Her thoughts were however interrupted when she detected a movement out of the corner of her eye. Upon further inspection, it turned out to be Mercury slowly and hesitantly walking towards where she was sitting on the ground, like someone approaching a predator and not quite knowing whether it was a good idea or not.

The occasional nudge of Kilgharrah's muzzle against Mercury's back was a clear indication to Loivissa that Mercury did not simply come over so that he could retrieve the orb for today's memory session, while it also indicated that whatever Kilgharrah wanted Mercury to do was not something Mercury was all that thrilled about doing. The thought alone made Loivissa slightly nervous, as she could count on half a hand the times she had seen Mercury genuinely showing vulnerability.

When he finally arrived, he merely stood there for a moment, looking down at her seated form, and it was not until Kilgharrah gave a not so subtle, nor particularly gentle it seemed, nudge that Mercury finally exclaimed, "cut it out already! I am doing it alright!", before he again turned towards her and in a dreary monotonous voice said, "in appreciation for your company and the woes I have caused you during our travels here, Kilgharrah and I", _meaning Kilgharrah forced you to comply_, "have decided to offer you the chance to…view the last part alongside me".

_Keh?_, Loivissa thought surprised and confused, _did he just offer to share his memories with me? But…why?..._

Before she could ask her question though, Mercury had already continued in his usual voice, and not that dismal monotonous voice from before, "know that should you choose to accept, there would be no going back. I cannot guarantee what you would witness, but you should know that I am sure that you would experience killing people during it. The experience might scar you for life, just think of what happened the last time, and the potential reward you could gain from your intimate knowledge of these events would be negligible at best-", at this point Loivissa sort of zoned out what Mercury was saying, as a heated debate raged inside her.

_Seriously, is he trying to encourage or dissuade me from accepting this?_, Loivissa thought, while Mercury continued to babble on about every potential side effect and consequence there could be to accepting, _on one hand, he does have a point in that there could be a number of side effects to this, as I would be viewing things through his memories, which means that I will see exactly what he saw, know what he thought and feel what emotions he felt, and therefore could unintentionally have some of that transferred to my own soul, which could influence who I am. On the other hand, how often does an opportunity for something like this ever happen? It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity that not so few scholars would die for_.

Outside of Loivissa's head, Mercury was currently enlightening her about the wonderful chance of the memories possibly damaging her own memories, as her mind might not react kindly to such alien objects. Although Loivissa guessed that it might be true enough, she had after all heard of what had happened to not so few people who had become lost in an elf's mind, the possibility of it happening to elves and other dragon riders were slim at best, as they had far more training and experience in dealing with foreign thoughts than anyone else.

_Well, at least I cannot fault him for not enlightening me about the consequences, should I accept_, Loivissa thought wryly, _still, the more he seems to describe even the smallest of chances of it going wrong for me just makes me feel that he actually wants me to accept this. What a strange notion, since he is actually giving me reasons not to accept, but still…this is Mercury, and the fact that he spent this much time considering the possible effects to my mind means that he genuinely does not wish for me to feel angry at him after I accept, which means that he wants me to accept. If he wanted me to do something I did not want to do, but did not care about that, then he would have approached me differently and subtly made me want to want to do it, which he would then only hesitantly comply with…unless he knew that that was what I would think he would do, which would make this his way of making me think that I had a choice in the matter and that he did not try to manipulate me into doing it_.

Loivissa used that moment to study Mercury a little closer, although he did not seem to notice it. He did look genuine enough, but if there was one thing she had learned about him, it was that he could make himself look genuine inside virtually any character or emotion, which had also been the problem that had caused him his sense of self, although now was not the time to think of that.

_He could know that I would reach that conclusion as well, which would make him try to approach me differently if he tried to manipulate me into saying yes, although if he knew that I thought that too, then…_, it was around this point that Mercury finally stopped explaining every single possible side effect and merely stood there, patiently waiting for her decision, _still, what could he gain from showing me this? It does not make any sense! I know that he has left out the truly horrible parts of what happened in his recounts, the last time I was in there was certainly proof of that, and he should know that I would not approve of his methods, so why would he risk damaging my perception of him even further? Could he be using this to try to make me belief that he is honest towards me? But if so, then why go about it this way?_

It was not until this point that Loivissa realized just how much she had changed during their travels. A month ago, she would not have thought about her being manipulated by anyone anymore than a few stray thoughts. Two months ago, she would have never even considered harming another animal for food or actually standing up to anyone older and more experienced than her.

A part of her began to long for that past self, the one who instantly knew right from wrong and never hurt anyone, but another part of her, the larger dominant one, knew that that time was forever over and was actually kind of intrigued by it. In hindsight, she had not really been an adult when she had left Estildirin; she had simply been too sheltered by her father and brother to truly learn about the true hardships of life.

That being said, she also knew that the process of learning about this was meant to take years, decades even for the immortal races, not the two months crash course she had been given. It slightly peeved her whether her brother and her friends would even recognize her when she returned, but if the alternative would be to go back to her old life after learning what she had learned and experiencing this kind of freedom and responsibility mingled into one, then she would gladly take that chance.

It was with this in mind, alongside a reasoning that whatever Mercury might be trying to gain from this, he had warned her and given her the choice of choosing for herself, that Loivissa finally said, "I accept!", which served to make Mercury look just a little bit surprised, before he quickly schooled his features back to neutral.

Not soon after, they were both sitting on the ground with the orb in between them. It had been agreed upon that Loivissa would extend and mingle her mind with Mercury's, before he then connected to the orb and began viewing the events. Kilgharrah and Adûn would look after their bodies while they were unconscious, although Loivissa highly suspected the two dragons of agreeing to switch between taking a nap while the other would extend his conscious to alert him of any creatures nearby. Loivissa just hoped that that included those nasty ivory maggot-grubs, as she had had the unfortunate experience of having one of them latch itself unto her during the first night at Vroengard.

**Mercury's flashback(the last day of the Shadow War)  
**Mercury was deep in thought sitting in the back of a clothed wagon, which made it impossible for anyone outside to see in. Around him, there were seven other people in similar positions, four on each side of the wagon. They were all clothed in various forms of armour and with varying weaponry. A few had small swords, another had a mace, one had a handheld axe, a few had bucklers and another only had something Mercury recognized as a scimitar. Most of them were clad either in complete leather armour, incomplete sets or had replaced various pieces with sturdier iron armour, except for that one fellow who had come completely encased in red and brown cloth, so much akin to the wandering tribes, which Mercury guessed he was originally from.

Mercury himself wore his customary dark leather armour with his cloak across his back, his hood drawn up and the black cloth covering most of his face, while his trusted katana was nestled comfortably at his back, although a small one-hand crossbow had found its way to occupy the entire left half of his belt along with a dozen bolts, instead of the pouches of exploding salt that had previously been located there. Mercury did not expect to need the explosives for this mission, they would draw far too much attention and be far too ineffective and dangerous to use.

Ahead of his own wagon, there was another wagon with a crew much similar to his own, while another two were behind his wagon. This made his total force reach 40 people in total, eight in the back of each wagon and two driving the wagon.

In truth, Mercury would have preferred to have been able to hire twice that number for this mission, but because mercenaries willing to work for him were hard to come by these days, the fact that this mission would rely more on the element of surprise than numbers and the difficulty of having to sneak a larger force inside Ilirea was notoriously difficult, he had been forced to make due.

The mission itself was simple enough; get inside Ilirea with the strike force, get said force into the luxurious section of the city without being noticed, distract the guards in the city, so that they would not interfere, storm and raid the last bastion of the Black Hand and, finally, kill the last leader of the Black Hand.

In truth, just killing the leader would have been enough of a push to shove the remaining Black Hand of the cliff, but Mercury had discovered that that had been easier said than done. He had literally tried everything; burning down the mansion currently occupied by the leader, sending entire scores of men down upon them in ambushes, making a bridge give way under their convoy's feet, poisoning an entire well with the most effective and hard to discover poisons on the market, poisoning their food supply with various heavy metals, hell, he had even tried replacing a few bricks in one of their safe houses with radium-enriched ones, which had been notoriously difficult to collect and fabricate, and still none of it had worked.

The experiences had taught him something though, and when he had first learned about their last little HQ nearly eight months ago, he had dropped everything else and spent those eight months planning out every single detail of this mission.

The men he had hired had directly told him that he had put way too much thought into this, a rather interesting statement considering that he paid them for doing all of those extra things, but this time he had to be sure that he would succeed, which was also why he was personally leading this strike force into Ilirea.

In the distance, Mercury could begin to hear the screams of panicking citizens echoing from the lower parts of Ilirea.

_Good, now the guards will be occupied by tending to the flames_, he thought grimly, as it had been his way of removing all city guards from this area; have a few fires be set in the neighbourhood, which would force the town watch to combat the flames and abandon their posts if they did not wish for the flames to spread. Mercury already knew that there was no chance of that happening, as he had purposely designated buildings with more free space around them to be set ablaze, which would mean that the guards really only needed to not simply stand idly by to ensure that the flames did not spread, although it would occupy them for quite enough time for Mercury to finish up here.

Not soon after, the wagons stopped and everyone emerged from the back of their wagon, while the drivers were given their armour and weapons, which had been hidden inside to avoid suspicion. In front of them there was a mansion so vast that it seemed to dwarf the buildings beside it. The mansion had a stone wall surrounding it, which was only broken by an iron gate, and the mansion itself was made to resemble a three story U facing towards them.

That was part of the reason why surprise had been completely essential to this mission; if the Black Hand inside had been prepared for an attack, then that U-shape would have turned the entire courtyard into a killing zone.

"Alright, I am only going to say this once, so listen closely!", Mercury shouted for the mercenaries to hear, which soon made them surround him in a small half-circle, "Alpha and Beta are to secure the west wing of the mansion. Remember that the sleeping quarters are on the second floor, so if you can push through before the night shift wakes up, you will have a much greater chance of making it through this without any casualties. Gamma, Delta, you are to secure the armoury in the east wing, along with the treasury. Anything in there will be split among the survivors once we finish, so make sure to stay alive to get your payment, but if I hear or see anyone shirking battle because of cowardice, then the enemy shall be the least of your problems. Finally, Epsilon is to secure the gate once we are through and prevent anyone from surprising us, while I will lead Omega into the heart of the stronghold to take out the primary target. You all have your orders if something does not go according to plan. Now, scurry off and do your job!"

Mercury had beforehand divided the 40 men into five teams of six people, while his own Omega team had gotten the remaining 10 people. It just so happened that the scimitar fellow was in Omega, although that was hardly a coincidence, as Mercury had immediately assigned him the position of second-in-command of the team based on his reputation, which was quite impressive, even for someone like Mercury.

A few swings of a couple of burly men, who just happened to be identical twins, with sledgehammers quickly took care of the hinges of the gate, at which point the gate fell inwards and was soon overrun by the mercenaries storming through. Mercury's team was almost halfway across the courtyard, while the other teams, which had broken off from them almost immediately after entering the courtyard, were already reaching the double doors that led inside their respective key points, before the first arrow imbedded itself in the man to Mercury's immediate right.

As expected of the Black Hand, they had begun using the ward piercing arrows immediately, instead of the regular cheaper normal ones, although they had taken longer to regain their bearings and begin their counterattack than Mercury could have hoped for.

Another arrow whizzed by without actually hitting anyone, although the action did manage to make Mercury aware of the shooter's location.

_Third floor, second window to the right of the middle_, Mercury mused without breaking stride, _too far for my small crossbow, but the shooter does not appear to be steady in anticipating action_, which was further evidenced by another arrow imbedding itself in the ground a metre in front of Mercury's group, _only a single shooter and only one casualty to cross the courtyard. It is going better than I could have hoped for_.

A second later, Mercury's team made it to the large wooden double front door, which was blasted open by the same two sledgehammer wielding men that had taken care of the gate, in less than two seconds after the first of the group had reached the door.

Inside the door, two guards could be seen trying to get up from the floor, they had obviously been in the midst of barricading the door when it had been blasted open, and now their heavy iron armour prevented them from quickly rising to their feet.

A quick slash across their exposed throats by Mercury finished them off before they could become a nuisance, but a moment later, three similar looking men burst forth from each of the three doorways leading away from the entrance hall.

Before Mercury even had time to react, a red blur had whooshed past him and was quick in dispatching one of the groups. His scimitar danced around the guards' armour, parried their sword strikes without ever really taking any of the force itself and slid across a shield raised to block the strike like water hitting a smooth surface. The result was that out of the nine guards to enter the entrance hall, seven had been killed by a single scimitar, while the remaining two had had their breastplates punched through when they stupidly had tried to approach the twins wielding sledgehammers.

"Whisky, take Hector and Clemens and clear the door on the right and set up your part of the preparations. Marquis, Louis and Henry, the door on the left", Mercury instructed, "twins, Sedaawan", the scimitar wielding man, "you are with me".

No ayes or yes sirs could be heard from the men as they carried out their orders. It was part of the deal when you used mercenaries that they would at most acknowledge your instructions with a grunt and a nod, but they were no less efficient because of it…as soon as you made sure to only pick the ones that actually had experience and knew what to do and when to do it.

It only took another half an hour before Mercury had reached his destination on the third floor, a door leading into the office of the only remaining leader of the Black Hand. Mercury was down to two bolts and a single shuriken, but the only place that had really caused them trouble on their way here had been getting up the round stairway to the third floor, which had been guarded by four pike wielding men at the top. It had taken the twins to knock two of the pikes away in order for Mercury to move in with his arm-blades to finish the job in the narrow space, where the pikes would not be manageable, to get past them.

But now they were here, the journey's end. No one had actually seen what the leader of the Black Hand looked like, but Mercury had been able to make a good guess based on the intelligence from his failed assassination attempts.

"Stay here and guard the door. Under no circumstances must anyone enter this room", Mercury ordered.

"But sir", Sedaawan said, he was really the only mercenary Mercury had met that kept referring to him as sir, "it would be dangerous for you to enter alone. At least allow one of us to accompany you".

"No", Mercury answered adamantly, "your presence in there would only endanger me even further. You have your orders if I have not returned within half an hour".

"Yes sir", Sedaawan obliged grudgingly.

Mercury took a few breaths to steady his nerves, before he opened the door slightly and slipped inside, after which he quickly closed it again and soundproofed it with a simple spell, before he finally looked at the leader of the Black Hand, who was currently sitting calmly behind a large oak desk with a plush chair across from it, and said, "hello Elva".

"You have come", Elva replied calmly from behind her desk, "I must admit that I thought you would have attacked in the night".

"It was my first intention to do so", Mercury calmly replied back, while he calmly seated himself across from her in the plush chair, "tell me, if you knew that I had found you, why did you not move then?"

"I figured that it was about time to finally end our little dance", Elva replied, before she hefted two small crystal glasses and a bottle filled with an amber liquid from her desk, "faelnirv?"

"Please", Mercury responded, as she filled both glasses and slid one across to Mercury, which he sipped from immediately upon receiving it.

"You seem awfully sure that I have not poisoned it", Elva said bemused while taking a sip from her own glass.

"It would not suit you to stoop so low in defeat", Mercury merely replied, "but I must admit that I did expect you to at least try to break out of here when I entered the mansion".

"I had already foreseen every outcome I could possible make, even trying to use my curse against you would have been ineffective, as you would have just pushed any damage I could do aside for long enough to kill me", Elva replied, "this one at least gave me the chance to talk to you in private before my end. You really have outdone yourself with this one".

"Only the best of plans could possibly be used against you", Mercury responded with a small nod in appreciation, which was returned by Elva a moment after, "I am glad however that we got this chance to talk, as I have been rather curious as to how exactly you survived the first time?"

A pained look crossed Elva's features, as she said in a slightly saddened voice, "I found the files in the loft".

"So that was why you turned your back on us", Mercury answered crestfallen, "I suppose that makes this my fault as well".

"Partly", Elva continued, "but I suppose that if I had not been so angry at you at the time, I would have realized that you had not thought of me in that way for decades. You cannot even begin to fathom how betrayed I felt when I stumbled upon those files. Up until then, everyone had simply tolerated me for my usefulness, even the so-called benevolent riders, but then you came and showed me that I was more than just a tool, only to have that ripped away from me".

"I truly am sorry about that", Mercury said earnestly, "if I had known what would happen, I would have destroyed those files the minute I made them, but the past is the past and no matter how much we wish it otherwise, there is nothing we can do to change it".

"I know", Elva replied with a tired smile towards him, "I suppose I knew that this would be the outcome, one of our deaths at the hands of the other, from the moment I faked my death back then. Thank you for the chess piece by the way. It was a nice personal touch".

Elva then downed the last of her glass, before she raised herself from the chair and moved around the table to stand in front of where Mercury was now standing. Suddenly, a small chuckle escaped her lips, which made Mercury raise his eyebrow in question, before she explained, "I suppose it was fated that we, as the only two of our kind, should be destined to either love or fight each other, yet we somehow managed to do both".

"I suppose it was", Mercury replied with his own humourless chuckle, before he sprung the blade from his right arm and gently asked, "are you ready for this?".

"Can I make one final request?", Elva asked, for the first time showing signs of nervousness since Mercury had entered.

"Anything", Mercury replied honestly.

"Could you please hold me close?", Elva requested, "I am slightly scared of what will happen when I die".

"Do not be", Mercury replied, as he rapped his left arm around her shoulder and bent his forehead to touch hers, their breaths were now shared among them, "it will be quick and painless, much like falling asleep".

"I know", Elva replied with the beginnings of tears in her eyes, "goodbye my first and last love".

"Goodbye my only love", Mercury replied soothingly, before he with a quick thrust dove his blade into her heart.

He held her dead form for a few minutes, before he gently laid it down on the floor. He then crossed her arms across her chest to hide the wound, closed her eyes, gave her forehead a quick kiss, before a single tear fell from his eyes and landed on her lips.

After taking a few moments to compose himself again, he exited the office and went into the hallway, where Sedaawan and the twins stood guard, as per his instructions. When Mercury exited it, Sedaawam tried to peek through the door to see inside the office, but Mercury made sure that he could not see anything.

"Hand me your torch", Mercury commanded, which Sedaawan quickly complied with.

It only took a moment to ignite it, before Mercury opened the door slightly and threw it inside, before he quickly closed it again, turned around and started to walk out with a brisk pace.

Sedaawan and the twins soon followed, both knowing better than to try and peek inside now, and as Sedaawan reached Mercury's side, he began to give the other teams' status reports, "Delta and Gamma have successfully secured the treasury and are currently moving it outside, five casualties. Alpha and Beta had three casualties, although they reported that most of the guards had been asleep when we began our raid, so they only encountered light resistance from them. Epsilon reported that a few town guards came by and asked them about the gate, but they managed to convince them that they were having it replaced because of rust on the hinges".

"Understood", Mercury replied as they headed down the stairway, "any news from the rest of Omega?"

"Last I heard, they had just finished their clean-up and were in the middle of preparing their own bonfires from the furniture", Sedaawan replied, "shall I recall them?"

"Yes, do so, and tell them to start the fires immediately", Mercury ordered.

Once outside again, Mercury gathered the remaining mercenaries around, split the loot among them without taking a share for himself, before he informed them that after this job, there would be no further from him, which gave the mercenaries a mixed expression of relief and resignation, as Mercury's jobs had always been the best paid ones available, but also most often the most dangerous ones.

At this point however, the fires inside the mansion had spread to encompass the roof, which quickly made the men part ways before the town guard would arrive and question them on why the mansion was suddenly set ablaze.

Mercury's final thoughts upon leaving Ilirea were, _goodbye Elva of the Dragon Blessed. I shall uphold your memory forever_.  
**End of flashback and the beginning of Loivissa's POV**

When Loivissa felt Mercury pull out of the memories, she was forced to tag along, as she was actually only a passenger on this ride. She knew that there were still more memories to be watched, years even, but they had gotten what they had come for and that was all that mattered.

The entire experience of returning to herself was much more pleasant than the first time around, although it had left her with a greater understanding of why exactly Mercury had been driven to rip out his memories instead of simply trying to seek help by sharing them with somebody; he had wanted to protect Elva's reputation by doing so.

Although his goodbye with Elva had seemed to give him some sort of closure, Loivissa was still slightly worried about what his current response to it would be. Would he sink deeper into his depression, react like the first time by throwing himself into hunting his perceived enemy, this time a shade instead of the Black Hand, or would he somehow manage to rise above these things?

Loivissa seriously doubted the last option, at least if he was to deal with it alone, but perhaps with someone to talk to this time around, it would be like that. Yes, right now she needed to get up and assess his mood. The opening of the armoury could wait until she was sure that he was alright mentally, so she slowly began making small movements with her legs and arms to send blood back into them…except that she could not.

Panic shot through her at the realization that her hands and feet had been bound and it only got worse when she opened her eyes to see Mercury looking equally confused, while lying on his stomach with his arms and legs tied together on his back. He seemed to already be struggling to get free of his bindings and his eyes shone as clear as the dwarven lanterns, although none of it seemed to make any progress.

A quick swipe of her head to either side revealed that Adûn and Kilgharrah had also been tied down by an enormous amount of rope going from the tip of their tails to the front of their muzzles, which was stuck in the ground with large wooden pegs. Their muzzles seemed to have been bound shut by rope as well.

Suddenly an evil cackling could be heard from right behind her, but she could not turn and see the source of it because of the bindings.

"So the little princess is finally awake, along with her dashing companion", the disembodied voice said gleefully, "you can thank your brother for my knowledge of your whereabouts. Had he not followed your trail from the Spine, I would have never realized where exactly you were heading, so in a sense, you could say that by trying to protect you, he inadvertently caused you more harm than you can even begin to imagine".

"What do you want!?", Mercury growled from across Loivissa towards the voice behind her.

"Me?", the voice said half amused half insulted at his interruption, "I simply want to watch your world burn. Now be quiet!", as he said this, a spear launched itself from outside of Loivissa's view and into Mercury's elbow. It had clearly not been meant to kill, merely to punish.

Loivissa then felt a pair of ice cold hands envelop her form from behind, before she was lifted up and for the first time witnessed the crimson eyes, sickly pale skin and maroon hair that could only belong to a shade. A small gulp unintentionally escaped her as he flashed a toothed smile with teeth that looked more like shark teeth than human teeth.

The shade then lifted her up on his shoulder, like she was a bag of potatoes, which was not far from the truth as her bindings made it impossible for her to struggle, before he then turned his attention back towards the bleeding form of Mercury and in a cackling voice said, "since I need a messenger, I suppose you will do. Tell your precious Shadeslayer that if he wants to see his daughter again, he will face me in a one on one duel at an undisclosed location in the Spine. Just make him show up alone and I will guide him from there…oh, and one last thing to hasten his return; I will give him half a month to get here. After that I will begin cutting off small parts of this precious lady every week he does not show up. I think I will start with her fingers and work my way up from there, who knows, perhaps I will even decide to have a little fun with her if he makes me wait for too long or decides to not come alone".

No, no, no, no, no, this could not be happening. The trip from Estildirin to Hedarth took two weeks alone if you hurried, then at least another week to get to the Spine, which meant that no matter what, she would begin losing her fingers, and that was assuming that her father somehow learned of this and departed this very day.

"You do **NOT** want to take her!", Mercury suddenly said in the darkest and most threatening voice Loivissa had ever heard him use, it even managed to send chills up her spine and she was not even the recipient of it, "if you do, then there is **NO** place you can hide where I will not find you! No matter how far and how fast you run, I **WILL** hunt you down and I **WILL** destroy every single object you lay in my path!"

"Is that supposed to be a threat?", the shade replied only slightly less amused than before.

"**It is a promise!**", Mercury answered in the ancient language, which made Loivissa feel astounded in his certainty to accomplish these things.

"Hmm, I guess messengers do not really need the use of their legs or arms do they?", the shade mused aloud, before he uttered a few words incomprehensible to Loivissa, although the result was clear to Loivissa by both the screams of anguish emanating from Mercury and the sight of him as the shade turned his back on him and began calmly walking away with the same sickening cackling that he had used in the start, "do not worry though, I am sure her lovely brother will find you before you bleed out…perhaps. I guess I will now after a couple of months won't I?"

Loivissa could now see exactly what the shade's spell had done, and the sight terrified her, for Mercury's bones had been completely broken and were protruding out from both of his shins and arms. The sight of those ivory white objects covered in red nearly made Loivissa puke just by the sight, but she managed to hold it in.

The only thing now stopping her from completely breaking down crying was Mercury's intense stare into her eyes. Despite the pain that was all too evident on his face, his eyes only held one message for her: endure!

And she would, if nothing else, because she had no choice.


	24. WHERE IS MY SISTER?

Knock knock.

Who is there?

Merry

Merry who?

I wish you a merry Christmas, I wish you a merry- wait wrong holiday. Sorry about that.

* * *

**WHERE IS MY SISTER?!**

**Evandar POV  
**Evandar was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground. Next to him, trying to calm him down and simultaneously release the captured dragons from the myriad of spells that they had been put under, was Fagosh the Grey. In front of him was Celiste, who was in the midst of repairing the damage done to their only lead on exactly what had happened here; Mercury.

Evandar had not been able to get much information out of the two dragons, whose only useful information about what had happened here had been that they had been ambushed without warning and without the perpetrator appearing on their mind searches of the area, after which they had quickly been knocked out cold by some form of dark ancient magic.

Evandar had, from the minute he had been informed where they were going by his little sister, known that something was going to go wrong, so when his sister had refused his suggestion of an escort, he had called in a few favours and managed to get Celiste and Fagosh to help him in silently trailing behind the two pairs.

It had turned out to be a good idea as well, as their only indignation of something going wrong had been the roars of the dragons, which could be heard from all the way across Vroengard, which had been where they had been camped.

When they had finally arrived at the site half a day later, the sight had been something Evandar thought that he might never forget. Two fully grown and capable dragons knocked out cold and tied up like simple game, an unconscious Mercury with broken bones sticking out of his limbs and, worst of all, no little sister in sight whatsoever.

Celiste had immediately set upon stabilizing and healing Mercury, as she was by far the most competent person for the job, while Fagosh and Evandar had begun extracting and awakening the quite understandably angered dragons.

Fagosh had discreetly asked Evandar to leave the work of releasing the dragons from the remaining spells to him after his questioning of them had proven fruitless and he had become quite upset, as had Adûn, after which Evandar had begun causing more problems than he solved in his frustration. So for now, Evandar was just silently waiting for Celiste to finish up Mercury, so he could finally get some answers.

"Would you just cut it out Evan! I am working as fast as I can", Celiste finally snapped.

Evandar stopped tapping his foot, only to begin cracking his knuckles instead, but this time Celiste chose to ignore the action. It took another eternity before she finally said, "done! His bones should be in place now and well on their way to healing, but he must not put them under too much stress for a while or else they will break again".

"When will he be awake?", Evandar asked impatiently.

"He should come to any second now", Celiste only just managed to say, before Evandar noticed a slight flutter of his eyes, indicating that he indeed was just about to wake.

After that initial flutter, things may have escalated slightly, as Evandar immediately seized Mercury by his collarbone and flung him up against the nearest tree, while shouting, "WHERE IS MY SISTER!?"

Mercury, whose feet were not even touching the ground at this time, shot his eyes widen open in confusing and disorientation, before Evandar repeated his inquiry as loud as the first time.

"I did not patch him up just so you could break his bones again the second he awoke!", Celiste shrieked from beside Evandar, but was completely ignored.

"Tell me what happened here!", Evandar demanded of the now somewhat coherent Mercury.

"The shade came and took her", Mercury replied in a weak rasping voice.

"How in all of Alagaësia did a shade manage to sneak up on you, and why was only she taken, while you were left here alive?!", Evandar continued, simultaneously increasing the pressure upon Mercury's collarbone a little.

"I do not know how he snuck up on us, ask the dragons, they were supposed to be on guard!", Mercury replied more forcefully this time, "and as for why I was left here alive, while she was taken, the answer is that he needed me to deliver a message to you".

"Tell me it", Evandar growled darkly, while also moving his hands just a little bit closer to Mercury's neck in a clear message that it had better be a good one.

"He said to tell you that if Eragon wants his daughter back, he will have to come alone to the Spine and face him in a duel", Mercury said unperturbed by the threat to his neck, "he will give him two weeks to get there, and every week after that, he will cut off a part of Loivissa, starting with her fingers, and that if Eragon does not come alone, he might just decide to have some fun with her".

The message was definitely not what Evandar wanted to hear, as Mercury soon found out by Evandar's hands moving to a choking position and slowly contracting. Beside him, Celiste was almost out of herself at this point, but nothing she said seemed to get through to Evandar, and in front of him, Mercury's response was to unsuccessfully try and pry his hands away from his throat in order to be able to breath.

"Tell me why I should let you live for allowing my sister to fall into the hands of such a creature?", Evandar asked darkly.

"Because- because I want to kill that wretched thing too. Because I made a vow to destroy everything in my path to get to him if he took her", Mercury managed to choke out, "and because I can find your sister and bring her back alive before any harm can be done upon her".

The statement managed to get Evandar to completely release Mercury from his hold, which made him fall down on all fours coughing while rubbing his bruised throat. It was only now that Evandar actually began to hear Celiste's outrage of his actions, but the only thing he could think of saying was, "**can you do it? Can you find her?**"

"**Yes!**", Mercury answered adamantly, now standing up on eye level with Evandar and looking him straight in the eyes, while also completely brushing off Celiste's attempts at examining his collarbone and throat, "**but I need you to help me get her out**".

A hand was extended to Evandar, not a hand of friendship or understanding, but a hand that would bind both of them together in their common mission to rescue Loivissa and destroy the shade. Evandar took the hand without any hesitation whatsoever, while remaining locked in his gaze into Mercury's silver eyes to discover any form of deceit, but finding none.

"If you two are done with your childish antics, I would like to take a look on Mercury's bone structures again to check for any damage and continue speeding up the healing process", Celiste said from beside the still hand and gaze-locked males.

Upon her intrusion, their gazes broke and the hands were quickly retracted, but it did not change a thing in their promise to one another. She was however once again brushed off by Mercury saying that they could continue on the flight, before he gave Evandar a wave to follow him and headed towards the giant cliff near them.

Their little troupe was quickly joined by Fagosh, who Celiste quickly informed of what had been agreed upon, before they finally stopped directly in front of the large cliff, the name of which slipped Evandar's mind for the moment.

Evandar was just about to ask what was supposed to happen, before Mercury took a deep breath with his eyes closed, but when his eyes opened again, they shone just as strongly as any werelight Evandar had ever seen, before Mercury in a commanding voice said, "in the name of Elva Dragon Blessed, I seek entrance to this cavern!"

It only took a moment or so, before the solid cliff in front of them transformed into a three metre high archway with two very intricately inscribed pillars stretching around the periphery and an almost pitch black darkness ahead of them.

Gasps of surprise could be heard from both sides of Evandar, but his eyes were only focused on the back of Mercury, who not even gave the opening a glance, before heading further inside. As soon as Mercury crossed the threshold, a pair of dwarven lanterns lit up near the walls at every 10th metre, bathing the seemingly unending hallway in a red light.

"You built all of this?", Fagosh asked astounded behind Evandar, and although Evandar could not deny his slight admiration of the entire construction, his primary concern was whether or not Mercury would be able to make good of his promise.

"No, the riders built this long before I ever thought of using it", Mercury replied to Fagosh's question, "I simply reoccupied it and made a few changes".

"I think I would have remembered if the riders ever built something like this", Evandar interjected.

"No, you would not", Mercury said, "remember those pillars outside? Their original purpose was to erase all memory and all knowledge of this place from the minds of everyone who had ever heard of it or would ever hear of it, with the exception of your father and Saphira. This was once the place that held all the free eldunarya and all the eggs of your new order, and it was only discovered late in the war against Galbatorix by your father".

Evandar did not even want to ask how Mercury knew of the eldunarya's existence, which was supposed to have been the riders' best kept secret, so he merely kept quiet and continued walking directly behind Mercury.

"Now that you mention it, I am reminded of that very same tale, but the name of the place constantly eludes me", Celiste said, "but I also remember that they were supposed to have been deactivated once Galbatorix's hold had been broken and that the lead rider, and all who wished to enter, needed to say their True Name in order to enter, not just some phrase".

"I reactivated them and rearranged the requirements for entry", Mercury simply said, "and the phrase is only one part of what I did in order to open this, but I will not disclose upon the other parts".

"Why would you need such excessive security measures? What could you have possible stored in here that would demand such a high level of security. I mean, even our greatest treasures are not this strictly kept", Fagosh asked.

"This…", Mercury said and extended his arms out wide to direct their gazes upon the suddenly large circula room that the hallway had ended into without them discovering it, as the room was bathed in the same red glow as the hallway, although this glow came from the round chasm in the centre of it, where a warm flow of air and a smell of sulphur also extended from, "is what I needed it for.

As the three riders completely stopped whatever they had been thinking before and let their gazes stretch out over the giant circular room, their mouths could not be stopped from hanging limply.

Engraved into the wall of the room where countless of alcoves, some almost as wide and high as Evandar was, while others were of a more normal size, and in all of these alcoves, there seemed to be something of importance stored.

Even the pieces of wall between the alcoves were not unoccupied, as countless of shelves and small iron rods extended from them and held some kind of weaponry. On the shelves closest to Evandar, there were a true plethora of small daggers and knives in all shapes and sizes, although none of them seemed to be of particular importance, as they had been merely sorted into an orderly pile.

On the next shelves, there were daggers of seemingly more importance, as they had each been given a predestined area to reside in on the shelf. On this shelf, there were two pairs of almost scythe-like knives, which looked to have a dull back edge and an extremely sharp front edge, along with another pair of daggers with green blades and blue handles, another that looked to be collapsible into a small compact bendable size, some crooked ones, one that had a serrated edge, another whose entire blade seemed to flow like the waves and finally a dagger that seemed to have a brightsteel blade, although the tip of it looked to be made of ruby, which seemed to have the honour spot among the collection.

Most of the iron rods had either crossbows, spears, javelins, swords, shields, armour sets, axes or hammers on them in all kinds of sizes, although the amour sets all seemed to be made for the same size of person, shapes, materials and weight classes, although a predominance of crossbows, ranging from small one-handed crossbows to something somewhere in between a regular two-handed crossbow and a ballistae, seemed to be apparent, and so far, Evandar had spotted no bows.

Inside the alcoves, the more dangerous and prized seemed to be stored, although the one that Evandar currently stood next to seemed to have a pair of black steel gloves inside it. Upon closer inspection, the gloves where revealed to have countless of tiny razor sharp blades sticking out from their palms. A few of those seemed to still be coated in coagulated blood, and Evandar could only shudder at the thought of the poor soul forced to be put under their care. These were not weapons to be used in fighting, but rather tools to be used to extract information, Evandar grimly realized.

Barrels were distributed among some of the walls farthest away, while a glass-casing to Evandar's left held all the original equipment once affiliated with the Shadow. All in all, there were probably enough in here to equip a small army.

In the centre of the room, closer to the edge of the chasm, there were a number of stone tables located, where a few of them seemed to be used for various purposes, like making potions, or probably more often poisons, metalworking, woodworking, leatherworking and a few others whose purpose Evandar could not guess.

Dwarfing the others however, was a stone table almost five times three metres in width and length, which only had a giant map, although the most detailed single coherent map of Alagaësia Evandar had ever seen, engraved unto its surface. At the middle of the wide side of the giant stone table, there appeared to be a small stone panel sticking out at a crooked angle from it, although the panel appeared to be completely blank.

"Enough gawking, let us find that wretched thing and get going", Mercury snapped everyone out of their stupor, "and Fagosh, if you open that, I am going to have to throw you into the volcano to prevent an epidemic!"

Evandar's attention snapped towards Fagosh, who had been about to open a sealed glass bell, which only held a single white and blue flower inside. Fagosh retracted his hands from the glass bell as if burned, before they all followed Mercury towards the giant stone table with the map of Alagaësia on.

Mercury quickly moved towards the stone panel, where Evandar noticed that his eyes suddenly began to glow, while he extended his right hand towards it, before small white lines seemed to pour out of his fingertips and into the panel, where they formed various self-lit cursors, symbols and objects on its surface.

Mercury then moved his ring finger unto one of the cursors, a long rectangular one with a lit triangle inside it and a number of objects to the side of it, where the triangle pointed at, and seemingly effortlessly dragged the triangle down towards a small round symbol, before he then moved to another similar rectangular cursor, whose symbols Evandar recognized as the crests of the Empire, Surda, the dwarven kingdom, Du Weldenvarden and finally a large A, where Mercury stopped the triangle.

He then hit a round button, which managed to spring to life an untold number of small white dots all across Alagaësia. Evandar recognized quite a few of the places with dots on them, such as Doru Araeba, Ristvaek'baen, Ellesméra, the cliffs in the middle of the Hadarac, Ilum and many many others, although quite a few where located up and down the Spine.

"What is all of this?", Evandar asked confused.

"This is what will tell me exactly where your sister is currently located", Mercury answered.

"But how?", Evandar continued.

Mercury seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he shrugged and explained, "see all those white dots? They are relay stations, unmanned outposts if you will, which activate and respond to a signal I just used this main one to send out. They then send out a similar signal, which, if their target is within their vicinity, tells the outpost what distance from the outpost the target is, which the outpost then sends a signal that informs me of this, back to this one. That will be represented by a glowing circle on the map, which, when combined with at least two other circles, enables me to tell you exactly where Loivissa is currently located".

"How do they know what their target is?", Evandar asked confused and a little bit paranoid at the idea of Mercury being able to find the location of everyone in all of Alagaësia, "…and how did you manage to get such an outpost inside Ellesméra?"

"Simple, I gave it to them and told them it was a piece of art", Mercury shrugged, "and as for knowing the target, I just inputted what tracker was meant to be searched for. In this case, a bracelet I previously gave Loivissa…and no, I did not know about this at that time, and afterwards it seemed redundant to bring up since I never expected to use it".

"You gave my sister a tracking bracelet?!", Evandar said with the strongest urge to hurt Mercury somehow, although whether it was about the tracking or the bracelet part, he could not tell exactly.

"Wait, I see a problem here", Fagosh quickly cut in and successfully avoided another confrontation between the two, "Du Weldenvarden has strong wards that block all incoming magic, so you would not be able to tell the outposts inside anything".

"The activation signal is not arcane in its nature, so therefore the wards of Du Weldenvarden cannot stop it any more than they could stop light", Mercury corrected, "and since they only stop incoming magic, the outgoing arcane signal has no trouble returning here".

"How is it all powered?", Celiste asked intrigued.

"Gemstones have been stored in each outpost, which I have filled to the brim with energy, but despite this, the energy requirements narrows the maximum number of uses per charge to 7-8 times, so I could not use it frivolously, as I would need to personally refill each station every time they run dry", Mercury answered.

"Gemstones? That had to be expensive", Evandar commented.

"Took up most of my funds for two decades after the war rekindled again", Mercury answered with a shrug, "arh, now we got something".

Four white glowing circles with centres in a dot each had appeared on the map and were converging on a single point in the Spine. The point was just a little north of what used to be Nolondil, but towards the west edge of the Spine instead of the east.

"How the hell did he manage to travel so far in so little time?", Fagosh exclaimed loudly.

"I do not know, but I am running another search now, so while we wait for it, I might as well arm all of you", Mercury said and pressed the circular symbol again, which made the map reset.

"Why?", Evandar asked confused, "now we know where he is, so why run another, and what do you mean about getting us armed? We already have our swords and armour with us".

"The shade might be on the move, so another test will tell us if he has moved at all since the last, which will indicate whether he has stopped there or is moving on", Mercury explained in a deadpan voice, "and because the shade most likely has a fort and men to guard it, we need to rescue Loivissa without alerting them to what we are doing. Tell me, can your sword kill a man silently a hundred metres away? Because if it cannot, then they might use her as a bargaining chip once they realize what we are doing".

"…well, no…", Evandar hesitantly said.

"Then take this!", Mercury said and yanked a medium-sized crossbow off the wall and stuck it into Evandar's hands, before he did the same to the other two. He then dove into an alcove at the back of the room, where he returned with a smaller one-handed crossbow, three bundles of similar looking bolts with a dark wooden shaft and with a clear magical charge at their tips, one bundle of smaller bolts to the smaller crossbow, which seemed void of magic and looked completely like the standard imperial army bolts only smaller, and a single bolt of similar size to the last bundle, which had a greenish metal tip, black shaft and with an aura that clearly screamed dangerous to anyone seeing it.

As he distributed the three identical bundles to the baffled riders, he explained, "these are not your usual dragon-rider-class enchantment piercing, but they are close to elven-class, so they should work well enough. I have taken human-class bolts and my last remaining ADR-class bolt, which I can tell you that even Rhunön would give her left arm to be able to study".

Human-class, elven-class, dragon-rider-class and ADR-class, none of it meant anything to Evandar, except for the impression that they would get the job done, although the last one did intrigue him, "if Rhunön would give her left arm to study that…ADR-something…then how did you come into possession of it?"

Mercury's expression turned grim, as he answered, "not a very pleasant way, and certainly not one I would repeat if ever given the choice. Now that that is done, let us check whether their position is the same".

After they had checked that it was in fact the exact same position as before, Mercury somehow pressed a few symbols and the panel changed into another sort of panel with the dwarven runes on them, which Mercury quickly typed a message in, before they set off with the crossbows, the bolts, Mercury's gear, quite a few of the barrels and some other weird stuff.

During their time carrying it all outside, Mercury explained that he had used the panel to send a message to Loivissa telling her to stay put and that help would come for her within a few days, which he then explained would appear on the side of the bracelet with a small warm feeling, before disappearing again a few minutes later to avoid detection. Unfortunately, it was a one-way communication, so Loivissa could not even reply whether she had received the message.

Now that they were finally ready, Evandar was more than ready to teach that wretched shade to NOT take his sister.

* * *

In case you are wondering about my somewhat strange opening, it is because I was recently told that upon reading one of my stories, someone had gotten slightly depressed, so I just wanted to lighten the mood a little. Perhaps not the right way to do it, considering the current emotional climate of the story? Oh well, not like you cannot say that I did not try.

On another note, let it be said that I am fundamentally against having people in charge of something that they are heavily emotionally invested in, as I have tried to illustrate why in Evandar. It is not that people cannot become emotionally involved, it is just that the leader really cannot afford to be, as he has to issue commands unbiased of his own personal feelings, and he will therefore have a harder time separating personal wishes from professional ones.


	25. The bigger fool

**The bigger fool**

**Evandar POV  
**It was early in the morning of the third day since his sister's capture. In the east, the sun was only just beginning to show, veiling the day in the period just between night and day. His breath was visible due to the morning cold, while his feet silently slid across the dew-covered grass.

Slightly behind and on either side of him, Celiste and Fagosh followed his lead across the empty grounds. Directly ahead of them, there was a stone wall with guards patrolling it at every twenty metres, although they had recently crossed paths and were looking away from the area that their group was sprinting across.

A bit too soon, the guards began to show the early signs of preparing to turn around and walk back the way they had come. An action that would make the three of them completely visible and blow not only their entire mission, but also possibly the only chance of getting Loivissa out alive and unscathed.

Evandar raised his speed at the cost of not moving completely silent, but it would be better to only have them guess at a miniscule noise, instead of them seeing his group and raising the alarm. Behind him, he heard Celiste and Fagosh follow his example, and soon they were tucked securely against the wall, completely safe from being seen because of the outwards railing on the wall.

"We made it", Celiste breathed out in a barely audible voice.

"Only just", Evandar replied in a similar voice.

"You think he is going to come through with his promise?", she asked still slightly sceptical of the plan, despite her being in the midst of it, "I mean, I know his history, but to attempt such a thing is foolhardy for even the best of riders. What if he fails to occupy it for long enough?"

"He must", Evandar answered steadfast.

"He will", Fagosh piped in.

"Say that he does, are we even sure that Loivissa is in the specified cell and not in another part of the fort?", Celiste continued.

"The reconnaissance earlier showed that she was", Evandar replied, before his tone softened, "it is okay to back out if you are not feeling okay with this. I mean, we are kind of going rogue with this, so it would probably be in your best interest to do so".

This entire mission had not been sanctioned by the council of the riders. In fact, they did not even know that their group had separated from their specified route back to Ilirea from Vroengard and would not discover it until this had either ended in success or complete and utter failure.

"No, I am behind you on this", Celiste said, her voice firm, "Loivissa is as much my friend as she is your sister. I could never let her suffer through this for the while it takes for someone to get through the bureaucracy of the council, while knowing that I had even a chance of ending it prematurely".

"Thank you", Evandar said gratefully, "I know that I ask a lot of you, both of you".

"Sometimes not doing everything the right way is the only way to do something right", Fagosh said and laid a comforting hand on Evandar's shoulder, "I would have been here even had I not known any of you".

Evandar nodded in acceptance of their assurances, before he returned to the matter at hand, "now secure the charges on the wall, so that we are ready when the signal comes".

Fagosh did as told by drawing a bottomless pyramidal shaped metal contraption from behind his back, loading a satchel into it with a fuse sticking out of it that went through a tiny hole at the top of the hollow metallic pyramid, before he placed it bottom first on the wall in front of them and secured it with four hooks attached at its corners.

The contraption was an invention of Mercury's, which he had equipped them with, when they had begun outlining their rescue plan, and afterwards taught them how to use. It was supposed to function in conjunction with satchels of his explosive salt, a compound that Evandar still had a hard time accepting the mere existence of, let alone its supposed power.

The amount used would apparently vary in accordance with different factors like wall thickness, density, materials used and whether you suspected wards of reinforcing the wall. Luckily, Mercury had done those assumptions for them and simply given them an amount to be used on the different sections they were supposed to breach.

If Evandar had not at least respected Mercury's ability to cross any hindrance like they were nothing, he did now. It was not just that he had a lot of amazing equipment though, nor the fact that he himself had designed and created most of them, it was rather the fact that Evandar had learned that whenever Mercury saw a problem, he was able to quickly analyse it, break it down into manageable sizes and then solve each and every one of those in a simple way, which, when ultimately combined with the others, would make the solution seem extremely complex to someone who had not viewed the process behind it.

Take for example this entire endeavour. When they had first seen the obstacles needed to cross in order for it to succeed, the entire thing had seemed more like either a suicide mission, or, at best, one with a very high chance of Loivissa ending up dead, while they were either maimed, captured or killed. Not that that had deterred anyone.

The combined obstacles were; needing to cross the walls, needing to enter Loivissa's cell, getting Loivissa out of the fort and out of danger, making sure that no guards realized what was happening and decided to use her as a hostage and making sure that the shade absolutely not found out what was happening.

It was Mercury who had proposed to simply use a magic trick to accomplish the last two obstacles. Evandar had not known what he meant by that at first, but Fagosh apparently had, as he quickly explained to the rest that Mercury wanted to divide their forces into two, where one would be gathering all the attention upon themselves, while the other snuck behind the entranced enemies' backs and accomplished what they were really here for.

After that, the only problem had been crossing the walls, which had been dealt with by Mercury's little toy, although their entire plan had been much more detailed than that rough summary. All in all, they would play the shade for a fool, before it finally came time to deal with him permanently.

Mercury, Kilgharrah and Adûn were supposed to be the ones that provided the distraction necessary for this to work, while also keeping the shade occupied for as long as it took to get Loivissa out. Mercury had argued that if it was only the three of them, without any support or aid from the other riders or their dragons, the probability of the shade seeing through their ruse was far lesser, as he might make the assumption that they had come directly to confront him without thinking things through and contacting anyone to aid them. Having anyone else there would just be like a smack in the shade's face saying that there was the possibility of more being involved than he knew of.

_Come on Mercury, what is taking you so long_, Evandar mused while he waited, _if we wait much longer, then the sun will properly rise and ruin our advantage_.

Similar thoughts were visible on his compatriots' faces, although none spoke of them. Soon however, a magically empowered voice, which could only belong to Mercury, rocked through the previously silent morning air with as much force as the largest dragon roar Evandar had ever heard, "SHADE! FACE ME!"

Yep, that was sure to catch the thing's attention, Evandar mused, while he whispered to Fagosh, "twenty seconds to detonation. Remember the four for the fuse".

Fagosh nodded at this, although it came out more like he was also nodding in tact with the count in his head, before the time came when he lit the fuse with a small bit of magic. Not four seconds later, an explosion, the force of which could be felt even by Evandar's group from behind the wall in the opposite side of the fort, rocked the entire fort and, by the sound of it, most likely tore down a substantial part of it too.

The larger explosion served to overshadow the smaller and more important one that had torn a man-sized hole into the wall where the metal contraption had hung. The contraption itself had only been blasted back a few metres, while being relatively unscathed by the explosion that had broken through a three metre thick stone wall.

Evandar did not however have time to muse over exactly how much reinforcing wards had been placed upon the pyramid, as he and Celiste quickly surged through the hole and turned around to shoot two crossbow bolts into the now exposed guardsmen atop the wall, who only just managed to register what was happening, before their lives were snuffed out.

Good, now the chance of their plan being discovered by the guards present at their breach had been dealt with, which in conjunction with Mercury's much more obvious explosion and challenge would draw the rest of them away from where Evandar's route would be. Still, one could never be too careful, both Evandar and Celiste apparently mused, as they both immediately reloaded their crossbows, instead of drawing their swords, as Mercury had had a point in that the crossbows were capable of dealing with enemies swiftly and silently from afar, before they managed to alert someone else of what was going on.

The next explosion would not be before exactly three minutes from the first. During this time, Evandar's group needed to relocate to their next breach and prepare, before they could move unto the final one into Loivissa's cell, although the last one would have to be without any cover, as the shade would have most likely already engaged Mercury at that point.

The rest of their plan involved escorting Loivissa to safety, while Mercury, Adûn and Kilgharrah kept the shade occupied, before they would all surround the shade and finally begin their actual attempt at taking it down.

_All Mercury have to do is to keep it occupied until then_, Evandar mused while sprinting across the inner grounds, _then we can finally end its existence_.

**Mercury POV  
**Evandar had been a fool to think that Mercury would agree to play decoy until they could surround the shade with their combined might and take it down!

These were the thoughts going through Mercury's head at this very moment. Mercury had initially been surprised at how easily he had been able to manipulate Evandar into doing exactly what he wanted. Eragon had clearly not seen it necessary to brief his son about him yet, as he had no doubt never considered that they would work together for quite some time and therefore thought that he had plenty of time.

All it had really taken for Mercury to get three riders and their dragons to do what he wanted them to do was to simply appeal to Evandar's protective sense over his little sister. A protectiveness that might have been a bit exaggerated in Mercury's opinion, but it certainly explained quite a lot about why Loivissa had been as she was when he had first met her, and a weakness in Evandar's mind that had been displayed far too obviously when Mercury had awakened. After he had convinced Evandar, the rest would follow his lead, although Mercury expected that Fagosh might have suspected his ulterior motives, but had evidently not seen the problem in them. Not that there really were any either.

Instead of simply trying to stall the shade, Mercury intended to finish it off before the others could get there. Loivissa would still be saved and the shade would still be dead in the end, so there really was not too much of a difference in the end results.

Besides, Mercury had made a vow to hunt that thing down. Even though it would technically have been fulfilled with their original plan, Mercury found that he simply did not want that. He had wanted to personally kill that shade ever since it had attacked his home, killed his pets and had had the nerve to leave him for dead without even bothering to make sure that the job had been finished.

When the shade had taken Loivissa, Mercury had initially had to divide his attention between ensuring her survival and exacting his revenge. A division he had been surprised at at first, but had not had the time to study it more extensively yet.

No matter, now was not the time to dwell on these thoughts, as the time for the second distraction and challenge was about to come up.

Mercury breathed deeply, before he activated the magic that would enhance his voice, and shouted for the shade to hear, "YOU COWARD! I HAVE DESTROYED EVEN YOUR KIN, THE SPIRITS, NOT JUST FREED THEM FROM THEIR IMPRISONMENT IN HUMAN FLESH, BUT ACTUALLY DESTROYED THEIR VERY ESSENCE, AND YET YOU DARE TO REFUSE MY CHALLENGE! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT YOU WERE A COWARD THE MOMENT YOU SENT YOUR MEN INSIDE MY HOME WHILE WAITING FOR IT TO BE SECURE TO GO IN YOURSELF!"

That ought to prick at the shade's pride. If there was one thing such creatures valued above all, it was their pride. Now he only had to wait another thirteen seconds before he had to launch the next barrel full of explosive salt.

The energy required to do so was burrowed from Kilgharrah, despite Mercury having ample reserves locked away in his dwarven ring, and he had not even needed to use any of it to set up wards around himself, as his armour as always had had them imbedded in its fabric, so that he was ready for whatever might happen and made sure to not forget about any of them if he ever needed to reset them around himself.

The reason for the burrowing was that, despite Mercury's reserves, he only had so much energy stored up for this, and for a dragon the size of Kilgharrah, lifting and throwing a 200 kg barrel 50 metres was equivalent to Mercury lifting and throwing a pebble, so it made more sense to not waste undue energy on something so trivial. In fact, the only reason Mercury had not simply had Kilgharrah throw the damn barrel, instead of him using magic to throw it, was that he needed precision that any normal throw simply could not grant the accuracy needed in order to hit the appropriate targets.

For example, his first shot had been directed at the opposite side of the fort than Evandar would be breaching in order to draw attention to that place. His next shot would then be at the site where Evandar's team had breached the wall, as that would cover up any indication of anyone getting through earlier. Besides, it would have been suspicious if he chose to blow up a target away from that area again, as that might lead someone to conclude that there was something he did not want anyone to see there.

…_3, 2, 1, now!_, Mercury counted, before he lit and launched the barrel. His aim was true, thank magic for the opportunity to specify exactly where you wanted your projectile to hit, and if Evandar's team had done as agreed, they should be out of the area and ready to breach their second barrier before Loivissa's cell.

It only took a few seconds longer before Mercury's summons were answered when the blasted shade ran right out the front gate, killing his two gatekeepers in the process, and only stopped a few metres ahead of Mercury. His hair was maroon, his eyes blood-red, his teeth shark-like and on his body, he wore black robes. At his side, there was a sword blade the length of a two-hander, but the width of a rapier. It had a silver-looking blade, a golden crossguard, a blackened handle and the pommel had a round golden edge with a ruby inside..

"You dare call me a coward and challenge me", the shade sneered at Mercury, who stood stock still with Kilgharrah sitting to his right and Adûn showing teeth to his left, "however I must admit, little human, that you have impressed me with your resilience. I thought you dead after our encounter at your library, then only to find you prancing around Vroengard with the daughter of my primary target. I broke your bones there, and yet you still managed to find your way here to issue this challenge. Tell me for I am curious, why do you insist on continuing to confront me? Every encounter we have ever had has ended with your defeat…or have you come here to try and save your dearest little friend? Because if you have, then I must say that you are going about it entirely the wrong way".

"I am here for my revenge", Mercury snarled, "and nothing shall stop me from getting it!"

"A more reasonable set of ideals then", the shade said with something akin to acknowledgement in his voice, "I suppose a duel will be appropriate then".

As he said this, he drew his sword with only one hand and held it comfortably, not even bothering to use the other hand for the menial task. Mercury in the meantime sprung his left arm-blade, while occupying his right hand with the small crossbow that he had brought.

His plan of battle was simple, use the left hand to block incoming strikes and lash out, while his right hand would fire bolts at the shade to ascertain his reactions and reflexes, although the bolts were only the human-class ones, so even if the shade had not bothered to ward his body, they still would not be able to pierce the wards around its heart, which Mercury was sure would need the use of either his dragon-rider-class arm-blades or the ADR-class bolt, and since he wanted to actually succeed at this, the first option was not an altogether promising one.

Beside him, Mercury could feel Adûn and Kilgharrah taking off to fly in the sky until he signalled that he needed their aid with something, and in the miniscule moment of distraction this caused in the shade, Mercury launched his first attack, a crossbow bolt swiftly followed up by a futile slash with his blade that would no doubt send him flying several metres to the right because of the shade's immense strength.

The attack went as expected; the shade sidestepped the bolt with ease, before he blocked Mercury's strike and sent him flying to the right. The shade seemed surprised by Mercury's sudden assault, no doubt not expecting anyone to go at him directly because of his superior strength, speed, skills and tolerance for pain.

Mercury's battle-plan on the other hand incorporated nothing but attacks on the shade, as he figured that the best way to outbalance a so severely superior foe was for that foe to constantly be on the defensive, and therefore not able to utilize his advantages.

Another bolt was sent flying and was split in two by the shade's sword, not that Mercury expected any of the bolts that he sent to do anything but be an distraction at best, and a way to discern the shade's movement patterns at the very least.

Unlike his fight against Loivissa, Mercury had not spent the majority of two weeks carefully studying this creature's movements and thoughts, so he would need to draw the fight out for long enough for him to have a crash course in them, then analyse them and come up with a way to force the shade into a checkmate. This was just foreplay.

The shade sneered at his petty attempts, before he crossed the distance between them and lashed out with his sword that was blocked by Mercury's blade. The advantages to the arm-blades' positions were that they could block with the entire force of his forearms, instead of relying so heavily on his wrists. Unfortunately though, the entire strength of Mercury's forearm was not nearly enough to go up against a shade's strength, so Mercury was quickly forced to retreat two steps back and then jump another two steps, before standing his ground.

There was a snicker at his retreat from the shade, before he leisurely followed Mercury. After three steps, his feet gave way to a pit with spikes on the bottom, while three crossbow bolts were fired from the forest surrounding their fight scene.

Oh yeah, Mercury might have spent the night setting up traps all across the battlefield with the other riders in a carefully laid out grit, which Mercury had memorized.

_Best not to waste this opportunity to ascertain his reactions to surprises followed by attacks_, Mercury mused as he launched to perform another attack at the staggered shade with crossbow bolts in his left arm and his right foot caught on a spike.

It would take a while before Mercury would be able to formulate his endgame plan.

**Evandar POV  
**Evandar's team had breached their second obstacle the exact moment the second explosion had occurred and were currently charging their way through the mostly empty courtyard. The few that had yet to scurry off were quickly shot down by either Celiste or Evandar, or, if they got close, cut down by Fagosh.

Time was of the essence now, as Evandar had no delusions that the shade had to be fighting Mercury now, especially after the kind of statement he had made immediately before. Personally, Evandar might have gone with something a little less insulting when about to face a foe numerous times stronger, faster and better at swordplay than you, but it was sure to get the job done.

Soon however, they rounded the last corner and disposed of the single guard still there, before they went forward towards the wall with Loivissa's cell on the opposite side. A single tiny window with iron bars was the only amount of freedom Loivissa had been allowed in there, but not for much longer.

"Sister, are you there?", Evandar said teeming with nerves that she might have been moved.

It took the longest time, although probably not more than a few moments, before the answer came, "I am in here Evan".

Evandar breathed in relief, before he quickly continued, "stand back. We are about to blow a hole through the wall".

**Mercury POV  
**_Adûn, blow fire diagonally at C-13_, Mercury commanded, _Kilgharrah, make a tail swipe from your current position and twenty metres out, then move to point Q-10_.

The battle was going well. Mercury had now decoded the shade's patterns and was able to control its movements at will, albeit with quite a lot of aid from two dragons, the pre-set traps and his own movements.

It was not the kind of control one had over an inanimate object, but forcing the shade to be where he wanted it to be, when he wanted it to be there and with the board all set up when he got there was now at least possible.

The shade on the other hand had been furious at the sudden involvement of the dragons in their duel, not that Mercury could understand why, as he had fought far from fairly before. It moved to outrun Kilgharrah's tail swipe, but was forced towards the forest on the left side of the battlefield because of Adûn's fire.

Mercury's immediate attack thereafter forced him to further retreat towards the treeline, before he could recompose himself and counterattack, but this was futile as Mercury had already withdrawn in favour of letting Kilgharrah's front paw smack the shade in his exposed rear with enough force to make him tumble, a considerable achievement because of the shade's immense strength.

_Adûn, move to point Q-34 and halt there facing south-south-east_, Mercury issued another instruction, before musing to himself, _bishop goes to Q-34. Now move rook back to C-10 and have enemy queen encircle knight around borderline Q_, before he then sent the instruction to Kilgharrah to move to C-10 and face west.

As expected, the shade used this opportunity to increase his attack on Mercury, which eventually forced him into having his back to the treeline. The shade had a look of triumph on his face, as it encircled Mercury against the treeline and cut off his only means of escape.

_Now, fire continual flames in your directions_, Mercury ordered both Adûn and Kilgharrah, which they swiftly did.

Two torrents of fire licked their way just behind and beside the shade, thereby seemingly further cutting off any retreat for Mercury. Mercury then activated a manually activated trap that sent four sharpened logs directly forward from the treeline and into the narrow space that Mercury and the shade occupied.

Mercury, knowing beforehand exactly from which angles the logs would fly by, took a single step to the side and missed getting impaled on a log by mere centimetres, whereas the shade, who was beyond furious at this point, opted to try to cleave each of the logs as they neared him with his two-hand sword.

Mercury had to give the sword some credit in that it actually managed to survive the ordeal without breaking, but that had never been the point of it all, as Mercury had loaded his ADR-class bolt into his crossbow beforehand and was now about to finish it all.

"With this…", Mercury mumbled to himself, as he drew the loaded crossbow, while the last log passed by him, and aimed it directly at where the shade's heart would be after he had cleaved the last log, "…I call checkmate".

The bolt was let loose and because it flew directly behind the log, the shade would not even notice it before it was too late. Mercury watched in almost slow-motion, as the log was slowly cleaved in two, before it finally split and the bolt was made visible to the shade, who would be able to do nothing to stop it now.

…and just like that, in a move so unexpected by his opponent that he had no counter for it, the shade moved faster than Mercury had ever seen it move and caught the bolt in mid-air with his bare hand, before he with a wicked grin snapped it in two and discarded it on the ground.

The surprise only just managed to stagger Mercury for a brief moment, but a moment was all it took.

**Loivissa POV  
**"…you did what!", Loivissa screamed as she tore out through the rubble and towards the exit with the rest following swiftly behind her.

When Evandar, Celiste and that other urgal, whose name Loivissa just could not remember, had first freed her from her cell, she had been beyond relieved to finally be rid of this nightmare. Not that she had expected to be in there particularly long.

After having a warm sensation around her wrist, where her bracelet from Mercury was located, and a message had been revealed to her on said bracelet, she had known that help was coming swiftly…and been a little bit peeved at having had something like that placed on her without her consent. Not that she would complain about it now.

So when she was so abruptly busted out from her cell after fearing that someone was collapsing the entire fort down upon her, she had fully expected Mercury to be there. She had only discovered that he was not after she had given her brother the biggest hug she could ever remember giving him, and had then questioned them about it.

They had then explained to her that they were following a joint plan, in which Mercury would play decoy against the shade until she was safe, after which they would surround it and kill it. It had been Mercury's idea to solve the problem, they had said when they had first mistaken her expression.

She had stormed out immediately after that, not even bothering to check whether they were following or not. If she knew him as well as she thought she did, then he would not simply be playing decoy until reinforcements arrived and took care of the problem for him. No, he would try and exact his revenge personally. She still clearly remembered the vow he took on Vroengard.

She supposed that she should be somewhat touched that he had included her release into his plans, so that no matter what, she at least would be saved if his own plan for revenge failed.

"You imbeciles", Loivissa shouted across her shoulder, "you really believed that he would not try and take revenge on that thing after what it did to his home and with the oath that he swore on Vroengard?"

"What oath?", Evandar managed to reply, while they crossed the second of the walls that they had originally breached.

"I suppose that it makes sense for him not to tell you of it", Loivissa answered, "he promised that if the shade took me, he would hunt it down no matter how far and how fast it ran. Do you honestly expect him to fight defensively after a statement like that? No, he is going for the kill!"

"Barzûl!", Evandar cursed and increased his tempo further to match Loivissa's.

Loivissa jumped the rubble of the outer wall, before she had a clear view of what was happening on what clearly looked like a battlefield. Crossbow bolt littered all over it, massive craters here and there, spikes that seemingly came out of the earth, still raging fires in some parts of the field along with the residual afterglow of the spells that had been cast made the field very much resemble hell on earth.

With her elven vision, Loivissa could see that torrents of flame cut off any escape path for both the shade and Mercury, while the shade was busy cleaving some kind of sharpened logs that were somehow flying towards it.

Right as the last log swept past Mercury, she saw him draw a small crossbow, the same crossbow from his memories, and fire a special looking kind of bolt to trail behind the last of the logs, completely invisible.

For a moment, Loivissa actually believed that she was about to witness the next Shadeslayer's birth, but then the shade did the impossible and caught it in mid-air and snapped it in two. Loivissa only just managed to register the unrestricted surprise on Mercury's face, before the shade used the momentary distraction to surge forward and stab his slender-looking two-handed sword directly into Mercury's chest.

_No, no, no, no, no, no. This cannot be happening_, Loivissa thought, as she saw a small spurt of blood escape from Mercury's mouth.

Beside her, with the trained discipline and skill of a fully trained and experienced rider, her brother aimed his crossbow, took aim and fired his bolt towards the back of the shade.

The bolt flew fast and undetected by the shade, even when it passed through the wall of flame and was set alight with dancing flames running across its shaft. Her brother's aim was true however, and the bolt impaled itself directly into the shade's back, exactly where the heart was supposed to be.

Loivissa, who had never seen a shade die, nor had anyone else here for that matter, watched with rapt attention, as the shade let go of its sword, which was still stuck halfway through Mercury's chest, and stumbled a few steps back, before it in almost complete synchronization with Mercury fell on its back.

A falling feather could have made more noise than all of them were combined for just a moment, before reality sunk in and the realization that Evandar had just killed a shade, thus becoming a Shadeslayer, set in.

His friends congratulated him, and hugged him in Celiste's case, but Loivissa hardly paid attention to that as she sprinted across the scorched and ravaged field to get to Mercury, jumping over the corpse of the shade in the process.

When she got there, she could see that the sword had gone straight through his right side of the chest, but the movement of his eyes towards her sudden appearance alerted her that he was not entirely dead yet.

"- the-", cough, cough, "the shade?", he managed to cough out amidst bloody coughs.

"Dead", Loivissa answered as she lowered herself to a kneeling position in front of him and as gently and quickly as possible removed the sword from his chest and carelessly threw it aside, before her voice slightly broke as she said, "do not die! Please, do not die! Not now, when it is all over!", unfortunately, the drugs given to her by the shade's men prevented her from healing the wounds herself.

"Do not worry, I will not die", Mercury managed to choke out, despite it seeming to cause him discomfort, "it is almost noon, remember?"

Loivissa let out a small tear-infected chuckle at that, "no, I suppose I should only worry around morning".

"You should", Mercury managed to spit out, combined with a bit of blood, "now, tell me who and how someone managed to steal that kill from me".

"Evan shot it in its back and through the heart with a crossbow", Loivissa replied, "I jumped over its corpse to get here".

Loivissa just managed to witness Mercury's eyes widen in alarm, before she felt a sword pierce her abdomen from behind and force its way all the way through her body. It was the same sword that she had just discarded a moment earlier.


	26. Not done yet

Welcome back to Funday Monday!  
-No wait, with the overall direction of this story, that might be a wrong title

Sadday Monday?  
-that does not seem right either

Exciting Adventureday Monday?  
-nope, that seems too long and weird

-The Mercury in my head tells me to stop rambling at once, or he will find a way to get out and make me. Since I do not want to risk that, I must choose something fast...

Welcome to Mammoth Monday!  
-What? Just because the animal is extinct, it does not mean that the word has to become so too. Therefore I am now redubbing everything that makes Monday a Monday into mammoth. Long live Mammoth Monday!(Btw, I am not crazy. My mother had me tested)

* * *

**Not done yet**

**Mercury POV  
**"I jumped over its corpse to get here", Mercury heard Loivissa say, which immediately set alarm bells ringing inside of him.

Shades did not leave husks behind when they died. No, their bodies shattered and the spirits within burst free, or at least that was what he had been told when inquiring on the subject some 170 years ago. All in all, not a very subtle way to go, so when Loivissa said that she jumped over its corpse, Mercury only just managed to widen his eyes in realization of the imminent danger, before the unthinkable happened.

A sword suddenly pierced right through Loivissa's abdomen, the same sword that had been imbedded in his chest a little while ago. Loivissa had never taken her eyes off of him, so her reactions were very visible to Mercury.

In her eyes, he saw surprise, pain and fear shining clearly. It was a combination that Mercury had never seen before in her eyes, and not one he wanted to see again, but right now, there was nothing he could do about it yet.

_Cursed riders! Why could they not just go out the way they were supposed to?!_, Mercury mentally cursed the idiotic riders that he blamed for getting Loivissa involved in this, _if they had just stuck to the bloody plan, she would have been long gone by now and they could have encircled the shade afterwards and killed it with their bloody swords_.

A maniacal laughter rang up from behind Loivissa, as the shade suddenly towered over her, before cackling, "you really thought that those puny little things were going to kill me?! Ha, I tell you. The wards that I have placed around my heart are far superior to the pitiful excuses for ward-piercing that that had!"

Blood began to slowly drool out from the corner of Loivissa's mouth, along with quite a lot beginning to run down the blade and drip unto Mercury. Her knees were already beginning to buckle at supporting herself, but the very blade that caused her this pain also prevented her from falling.

Loivissa was not as accustomed to pain as Mercury had become, so despite having been dealt a lesser blow, her ability to concentrate and pull herself together was diminishing rapidly. The shade however would have none of it, so when he first eyed Loivissa slowly closing her eyes, he twisted the sword inside her, which elicited a hiss of pain from her.

"I must insist that you stay awake dear", the shade gloated, "otherwise it will not be as fun to watch the reactions of your fellows".

Just as he said that, the three remaining riders reached them, but stopped immediately when the shade moved himself and Loivissa behind Mercury's lying form and said in a gleeful voice, "now , now, no sudden movements or the pretty lady here will have her a nice long gash from stomach to head", and as if to emphasize his point, the shade again twisted the metal blade slightly.

Disarmed at the prospect of his sister dying, Evandar could do nothing but send hateful looks towards the shade, neither could the rest.

"Now that most of us are here, I suggest that we have a little chat", the shade continued, "tell me how many riders are currently looking for me in Alagaësia?"

Evandar seemed to begin a sarcastic answer, before a small jab towards Loivissa changed his mind, as he defeated said, "there are 23 searching for you and another 42 safeguarding the cities spread out across Alagaësia. There is no way you can inflict any more damage to our cities and towns, so you may as well give up this crusade of yours".

"Hmm, 65 in total, huh?", the shade mused apparently to itself, "less than I expected, but all the better for it. I am sure that I will watch all of your cities burn before too long. Oh, what a sight it will be".

"You sick perverted dung-ridden-", Evandar managed to insult the shade, but was once again brought to silence by a reminder of his sister's position.

"You seem to travel a lot, so tell me, how is the weather around the year around Feinster, or Aroughs for that matter, for I have a wish to build a house there and would so very much like to know the weather first", the shade casually asked.

It was then that Mercury realized what was really happening, and when the stunned Evandar was about to answer the seemingly deranged shade's question, he wanted to scream at Evandar to stop at once, but suddenly a better idea sprang to mind.

Cutting Evandar off before he could utter his first syllables, Mercury caught the shade's attention by gurgling, "oh look how the mighty shade have come to hide behind a woman's skirt. Have you really forgone all of your pride already?"

"Are you still here?" the shade directed his almost curious question down towards Mercury, before he snarled, "shut up you maggot and let the grown-ups talk!"

The shade then proceeded to kick Mercury right in the guts and send him flying a few metres ahead to where the shade had originally fallen, before he recomposed himself and said, "now what were you about to say before we got so rudely interrupted?"

Before Evandar had a chance to answer that, Mercury once again interrupted him by loudly proclaiming, "what a pitiful excuse for a shade, you cannot even kick me properly. I have had worse from old men and young girls".

"Hush it fool, are you trying to get yourself and my sister killed", Evandar snarled at Mercury, before the shade replied to the taunt, "I see that I have to remove you from the conversation in order for it to be civil. So be it, riders, would you please walk slowly backwards while I deal with this…and no tricks or you know what happens".

Slowly but surely, the three riders withdrew from Mercury's lying form, while the shade edged himself closer, while still keeping Loivissa pinned before him. When he finally got to Mercury, he raised his boot to kick Mercury in the head, but was interrupted by Loivissa suddenly jerking.

Caught completely off guard, the shade only just managed to avoid slicing further into the side of Loivissa's abdomen, before he put a threatening hand around her neck and hissed, "do NOT do something stupid silly girl. If your brother plays his cards right, there may still be a chance of you getting out of here alive".

"Cannot even control your own hostage, what a disgrace", Mercury said disdainfully in response to the action, which prompted another outburst from Evandar, before he was silenced by a glare from the shade.

"What would it take for you to just shut up?", the shade snarled angrily at Mercury.

"Besides your immediate death by me ripping out your heart with my own hands?", Mercury replied almost casually, earning another glare from Evandar, before he in a more serious voice said, "there is one thing though, a small thing really. There is nothing that can prevent my death now, so I would like to say goodbye to Loivissa before that. Let me do that and I shall be quiet".

"Fine, say goodbye to her", the shade said irritated at the constant interruptions.

"Up close and personal", Mercury demanded, "it would only require you to lower her down for a short while. You do not even have to remove the sword from her, so you would still be very much in control".

The shade seemed to consider the offer for a while, considering the possible things Mercury could do to him by agreeing, but apparently finding none, as he snarled at him, "fine, just be quick about it, and be quiet afterwards!"

"Mercury what are you doing?", Loivissa managed to ask groggily, as she was lowered down towards him, while the shade still kept her in front of him and the sword imbedded in her, effectively blocking any attempts Mercury or any other could possibly have to aim for his heart with her body.

"Hush dear, I need to tell you something", Mercury silenced Loivissa's question, as he grabbed hold of her right arm with his, and, with a grunt from the strain it pulled on the tear in his torso, pulled her down on top of him and smacked his lips upon hers.

Her eyes widened in shock at the boldness, any previous grogginess gone from them, while Mercury faintly heard Evandar sputter profanities from afar, before he released his hold on her and in a gentle voice said, "I need you to be strong. Can you do this for me?"

Loivissa was slowly holstered up again, while she blinked slowly and in a slightly scared voice said, "I will try".

Finally having holstered her up to a standing position, the shade haughtily said, "oh how love is quaint when fostered in such environments, but now I am afraid that I must ask you to remain quiet and uphold your end of the deal".

Mercury nodded once, though not to the shade but to Loivissa, before the shade took it as confirmation and directed his attention back towards Evandar, while beginning to say, "now, where were we?"

Before he could say anything else though, Loivissa suddenly jerked her body around counter-clockwise, effectively letting the blade slice right through the entire right side of her abdomen, and raised her right hand, which now held the broken tip of Mercury's ADR-class bolt, before she with a shriek of pain, anger and determination drove it down into the shade's heart and stabbed it through.

The shade, too stunned by the sudden action and appearance of a weapon dangerous to him, only managed to stare in shock as Loivissa withdrew the tip from his bleeding heart and stabbed again and again, each time with another shriek to accompany the stab.

A dark terrifying screech erupted from the shade, terrifying everyone around it and even managing to stop Loivissa's wild stabbing, before five round lights burst forth from the shade's body and fled in completely different directions from what had once been their prison.

Next, the shade's hair turned brown, his eyes going blue, before his flesh began to tear itself apart in a seemingly unstoppable and incomprehensible feat of magic, the spirits' final parting gift, as the first slow disintegration of the shade's former body turned violently into an explosion that managed to send Loivissa flying into the arms of Evandar, who toppled over from the sudden and unexpected force.

It only took a second or so for the reality of what had happened to dawn on the riders, before both Evandar and Celiste started chanting as fast as they could to heal Loivissa of her terrible and devastating wounds.

Mercury himself lay on the grassy plane, the blast mostly sweeping over him and therefore not moving him at all, while slowly letting everything sink in.

It was over, the shade was dead, and although Mercury had never wanted to involve Loivissa in anything like this, she had still shown great courage and determination when it really counted. Now all the others needed to do was to use their bloody magic to save her from dying. A feat that would no doubt rival some of his own near-deaths, as the shade's sword had really done a lot of damage to her, perhaps, but hopefully not, beyond even magical saving.

Mercury had seen no other way to solve the crisis and still have even a chance at her being alive. He had not trusted the shade's word that she might be spared, if Evandar did as told, even one bit, so he had had to improvise, a lot.

Sighing in content, he leaned his head back against the grass and wallowed in the feeling of a small breeze washing over him, although the sudden chill around his chest reminded him of the wound that he would have to heal at some time. Probably best to do it sooner than later, but right now, Mercury could just not force himself to do it. It simply felt too nice to lie down and hear the methodical chant of two riders uttering healing phrases as fast as their tongue could go.

_Wait, two?_, Mercury shook himself awake, before his confusion, at where the other one was, was answered when he felt a pair of heavy feet stop near him. The only one here who could possibly have so heavy feet was Fagosh, but why was he not helping the others heal Loivissa?

The answer came when he started to utter the first words of what Mercury recognized as a complicated healing spell, but before he could utter anymore, Mercury snapped his eyes open and interrupted him by angrily saying, "why the bloody hell are you here, wasting your energy on these shallow excuses for wounds when there is someone much more in need of every bit of energy you have available over there?"

Fagosh looked taken aback at first, before he defiantly said, "someone needs to take care of you as well".

A cry of outrage could be heard from the other two riders, before the sound of Evandar's voice could be heard loudly, "why in all of Alagaësia will that wound not heal?!"

Fagosh looked torn between helping his fellow rider, who was obviously not doing as well as he had thought, and healing the clearly injured Mercury.

Mercury however made the choice easy for him by angrily demanding, "you will listen to me! If you do not go over there immediately and do whatever you can, then I am going to break into your mind and force you to do it". It was a hollow threat, seeing as Mercury never even stood a chance of breaking into it under normal circumstances, defence was his forte when it came to a fight in the mind.

Fagosh took one last glance at Mercury's wounds, before Mercury waved him off by saying in a reassuring tone, "I will take care of these petty wounds myself. Now, go!"

Not needing to be told twice, again, Fagosh sprinted across the field to help with Loivissa's recovery. Mercury, needing to save as much energy as possible without bleeding out, brought his right hand up in front of his mouth and raggedly blew fire inside of it, before he lowered it to his chest.

His last thoughts were, _this is going to hurt…a lot_.

**Evandar POV  
**The healing was going…not exactly well. They had managed to stabilize Loivissa and keep her from dying, although that required the constant efforts of Fagosh. Meanwhile, Evandar tried to break the curses that the shade had put upon his blade, while Celiste tried every combination of words that she could think of.

Despite having massive reserves of energy themselves, the riders had found that they still needed to borrow energy from their dragons, and in Celiste's case, Adûn, while Evandar got Kilgharrah's support.

None of them could fail at their task, Evandar knew this, for if even one failed, then she would surely die. Without Fagosh to keep her alive, she would die, without Evandar to break the curses, she would die and without Celiste to heal her, she would die.

Evandar had heard stories about how notoriously difficult shade curses were to break, but this was something on a whole other level than he had ever encountered. The curse might not have been so strong, or active at all, if Loivissa had merely had time to properly ward herself, but unfortunately there had been no chance for her to do that between her drugged captivity and the sudden outbreak turned disaster.

Suddenly while Evandar was concentrating his hardest on finding a solution, a hand grabbed hold of his leg. For a very brief moment, Evandar thought that it belonged to the shade that had somehow found a way to escape death again, but the warmth in it made him realize that it did not.

He hesitantly tore his gaze away from Loivissa's body to look down upon the sudden intrusion. There, lying on the ground, holding Evandar's leg with his right hand, was Mercury. A single look into Mercury's eyes said more than any amount of words could have possible done about why he was here, holding Evandar's leg in an iron grip.

Evandar hesitated for only just a moment, before he gave a very subtle nod in confirmation and returned his full attention to breaking the curse laid upon his dear little sister.

Moment after he had given his confirmation, Evandar felt a subtle but steady stream of energy flow into him. It was far from the amount of energy he was given by Kilgharrah and Delvaria, not even near the amount of energy he himself was used to without any external aid, but it was steady and a help none the less.

After the first quarter of an hour had gone by like this, Evandar had finally begun to unravel the curse at its most basic layer, and although there was still a long way to go, there was at least hope to undo it now.

During this time, Mercury's supply of energy had been kept at a steady pace, a fact that had begun to puzzle Evandar more and more the longer this went on. With the amount of energy that Mercury had had to have used during his earlier fight with the shade combined with the amount of energy needed to heal his wounds properly, he should not have had a whole lot left to aid in their healing, at least Evandar assumed that he had healed his wounds, as he would have bled out long ago if he had not.

The mystery was solved soon after when a gust of wind blew an acrid scent into Evandar's nostrils. The scent was one Evandar had learned to recognize as the one you got when you accidentally burned your meat on a fire.

The mere thought of what Mercury had done to himself in order to save energy was almost enough to make Evandar retch right here and now, because despite being taught at survival training back in Estildirin that calcination was an effective method to close a wound, they were generally discouraged from using it for anything other than the most extreme of circumstances, as it involved a lot of pain to the one it was done upon, and was not as effective as any form of simple healing spells.

If Evandar remembered correctly, and he was quite sure that he did for the image of Mercury being stabbed through was not an easy one to forget, the wound would have not only gone straight through Mercury's chest, through his lung, hopefully past his heart, and back out through his back.

To have burned all of that would definitely have hurt a lot, and probably still did. Not to mention that he somehow found the strength to crawl his way over here from where they had left him. His tolerance for pain was…not humane, Evandar decided.

This was however not the time nor the place to be wondering about this, so Evandar pushed the thoughts out of his head for the time being. He had far more pressing matters to concentrate on.

Mercury's supply of energy was constant all the way to the end, an hour and an half later, at which point he simply let his iron grip go and fainted. There was no more any of them could do for her now.

* * *

Way to go for the knight in shining armour!


	27. Heiress

Welcome to Mammoth Monday

I would like to thank RoguesMum for betaing this story and providing a wall to bounce ideas off of.

And now for the season finale...

* * *

**Heiress**

**Loivissa POV  
**When Loivissa finally came to, it was with the feeling of an extremely comfortable and an, oh so very soft, bed underneath her. Considering that she had spent the last months sleeping on the ground, it took a while for anything but the comfortable feeling of the bed to register.

The next thing that she registered was the feeling of warm sunlight against her closed eyelids, although the very slight crisp in the air revealed to her that it had to be close to morning still.

_Wait, the shade?!_, the thought of the shade suddenly jolted her almost awake, before she recalled how she had stabbed it in the heart and how it had afterwards exploded, _they must have transferred me to Ilirea while I was in a comatose_.

No longer feeling quite the need to continue sleeping, Loivissa slowly opened her eyes in small slits and noticed the stonework ceiling above her, before she with a content sigh leaned her head to the side of the bed, where she saw a male figure against the light penetrating from the window behind him.

He was sitting relaxed in a chair almost immediately next to her bedside, while reading a large book that obscured anything other than his legs and outer torso from her point of view.

"Are you ever going to stop that habit?", Loivissa voiced her opinion in an amused voice, as she connected the figure to one that had had that very same habit for the past two months.

"huh?", came the voice of her brother, as he threw the book aside and knelt beside her bed, so that he was eye-level with her, "you are finally awake! Oh my dear little sister, do not ever scare me by doing something like that again!"

"Oh! You are not…", Loivissa stuttered as she realized her error, "never mind, what happened after I..."

"The shade was destroyed for good this time", Evandar proudly said, "you became the first Shadeslayer in almost two centuries. I am so very proud of you, but I still wish that you had not had to endure these terrible things. After it was destroyed, we tried healing you, but the curse put upon you by the shade's sword prevented it, so we had to break that first, before we could begin healing you. When you were no longer in critical danger of dying, we flew you back to Ilirea for further treatment, which is where you have been for the last week".

"That long huh?", Loivissa mused aloud, before the thought that unless she had been extremely lucky in her wake up, her brother would have been here the whole time since she was brought here, which judging from the used plates by the bedside table, he had, so she asked, "did they really give you permission to watch over me the entire period that I was asleep? I mean, I know that you have lots of responsibilities as head of the dragon riders in Alagaësia".

A slightly sombre expression graced Evandar's face for a fraction of a second, before he in a slightly nonchalant voice said, "it is not a problem anymore. Do not worry about it".

"What happened?", Loivissa asked alarmed, "why would it not matter anymore?"

Her brother seemed to do his best to hide his emotions behind a façade of a reassuring smile, as he explained, "I no longer inhabit that position. A leader has to be reliable and follow the orders given to him, so when I made the call to go against the directions of the council and not return to Ilirea with Mercury, but go after you instead, they had no choice but to strip me of my command".

"You mean that because of me-", Loivissa managed to say, before she was cut off by Evandar, "and I would have made the same decision a thousand times over if it meant that there was even the slightest possibility of rescuing you".

"You did", Loivissa assured him, "you brought me back unscathed and alive. For that, I will always be eternally grateful to you".

A dark expression covered Evandar's face, as he heard her attempt at reassuring him, before he silently in a guilty voice said, "not entirely unscathed".

"What do you mean?", Loivissa asked confused, as she checked around her body for missing limbs or other abnormalities, but found none.

"Celiste wanted to be the one to tell you", Evandar tried to evade, but was silenced by Loivissa's newly developed glare that told him to stop it.

He then took a deep breath to steel himself, an action that Loivissa found very ominous coming from her always composed brother, before he looked her in the eyes with the utmost of sorrow and said in the same guilty voice, "because of the amount of damage done to you and the threat of your death hanging over us, we did not even stop to think even once about where the blade had struck and what it might have damaged there. Loivissa, sister, I am sorry, so very deeply sorry, to be the one to have to tell you this…You cannot have children".

It took a moment before realization sunk in, but as it did, Loivissa could only faintly whisper, "what!? Why?!"

"Celiste said that the sword pierced your ovaries and damaged your uterus, and that it would not regrow no matter what she tried when she finally discovered the damage", Evandar painfully explained to the shocked Loivissa, "I am deeply sorry about this".

The blow was unlike anything Loivissa had ever felt before. It was so much more powerful than any physical blow ever bestowed upon her, so much more hurting. She loved kids! She loved to play with them, laugh with them and sing with them. She definitely wanted some of her own. Not now, but later perhaps.

She could already imaging her chasing after them, while their small golden locks bounced up and down as they tried to flee, but now it was not to be…she was never to be a mother.

"Sister, I-", Evandar tried to say.

"Please leave", Loivissa said barely above a whisper, "I need to be alone right now".

"I understand", Evandar said with a dejected sigh, as he slowly stood up from where he had been kneeling and began to walk towards the wooden door, before he turned halfway around and said, "I almost forgot. I promised him that I would give you this when you woke up", and as he said so, he retraced his steps and laid a small envelope down at her bedside table, right next to the decanter with water and the cup beside it, before he silently left the room.

Loivissa hardly noticed the action, as she curled herself up into a ball amidst the sheets, crying to herself in a state of utter despair at her own cruel fate. She did not know for how long she stayed like this, nor whether anyone entered the room during that time.

It was only when night fell that she finally succumbed to sleep, yet that had no more peace for her than the waking world, as she kept dreaming about finally having a child, only to have that child taken away from her.

Several times, she would wake up screaming at her unborn child not to be taken, but every time that happened, she would recognize the room that she was in and curl back into a ball.

When dawn finally came, Loivissa was more tired than when she had first fallen asleep, but she was unable to go back to those nightmares, so she had stayed awake for a good portion of the night.

She did not register anything, nothing really seemed to be of importance anymore, before the door opened to reveal Celiste carrying a tray of food towards her. Celiste's face was one of sorrow and understanding, but she still kept her pace steady and her gaze soft.

"I do not want to eat", Loivissa tried to protest, as Celiste sat down the tray on her bed, " I am not hungry".

"You have to", Celiste instructed in a soft voice, before she as gently as possibly force-fed Loivissa, though Loivissa never made much resistance to anything done.

After Loivissa had eaten her breakfast, Celiste grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, as she said, "you do not need to carry this burden alone, you know. We would be happy to assist you in any way we can if you would only share with us what you need".

_Share the burden? Why does that sound so familiar?_, Loivissa's mind managed to think, before the answer came to her, _yes, I remember now. It is because I tried to say the same thing to Mercury about his troubles_.

Wait, Mercury! He had been pierced by the shade's sword too, right? She could not believe that during all the time she had been awake, she had not even spared a single thought to whether he was even alive or not. Even with all that had happened to her, she should still have at least thought about her companion for the past two months. The one that had taught her so many things, and who had come to rescue her in her time of need.

"Mercury", she croaked out, but upon witnessing the surprised expression and the blush on Celiste's cheeks, she clarified, "is he…alive?"

Finally understanding her intent, Celiste let out a sigh of relief, as she, with a small reassuring smile, said, "yes, he is alive. Although I have to admit that I kind of yelled his ear off after he pulled the stunt that he did. Using fire to close your wounds is just plain sadistic, if you ask me".

"Where is he?", Loivissa continued her questioning.

"I honestly do not know where he is right now, but he should be back soon enough", Celiste admitted, "his wounds were surprisingly easy to heal, so he was up and about only days after we rescued you, not that he would listen to me telling him to go back to bed. Kilgharrah and he left a few days ago. He said that he needed to reseal his armoury, but I think that he gave Evan something to give you in case you woke up before he got back".

Right, the envelope, Loivissa realized as she cast her gaze unto the small table at her bed, where a single envelope laid untouched. Celiste followed her gaze and reached for it, before she gave it to Loivissa and departed to give her some privacy.

Her fingers slightly traced over the front of it, whereupon there simply stood, 'Loivissa', before she slowly turned it around to open it at its back. She noticed that it had been sealed by red wax, and that the sealing formed a round picture of thirteen star-like objects in an even circle around a throne with absolutely no curves or rounded edges.

It was not the same ring that she had gotten used to seeing on Mercury's finger, as that one had had a scroll and a dagger on a silver plate with words inscribed. It puzzled her slightly why he had changed rings, before she gingerly pushed the thought aside, unsealed the envelope and drew out the parchment from within.

'To Loivissa', it started, 'Firstly, I would like to apologize for taking the liberty of kissing you, but I saw no other way of delivering the tip to you that would not cause suspicion. That being said, let me now congratulate you on achieving something only a select few have ever survived. It was truly courageous of you to do as you did, but then again, that is something that I learned about you, but which you have only just begun to realize. You are brave, Loivissa. Remember that.

It is for this reason, among a number of others as well, that I have decided to name you as the sole heir of my house. Inside this envelope, you will find the signet ring that I carried during our travels, which, along with the will that I have already left with the king, will entitle you with the position of Lady of Eregion, sole head of the Sidhe house and ruler of the now destroyed Nolondil.'

As Loivissa read the last bit, she tilted the envelope to the side until a familiar ring landed in her palm, before she continued.

'Before I continue, I feel like I should reveal to you a few details about what I have given you. The land itself is nothing but an uninhabited mountain, and the only way up the mountain is through the path that I cleared many years ago. I do not know whether the place has been looted and whether they in that case have reached the vault, but if they have not, then there should be a vault filled with all the various artefacts that I have collected over the years beneath the ground. According to Kilgharrah, you need only enter the giant hole created by him to enter it.

Though no small fortune is stored there, it is not what I would consider Nolondil's true treasure. To reach that, you will need to head to the south-western corner of the vault, where a stone statue of a dragon standing on its hind-legs with a scroll in its mouth should be. Rotate the scroll half a circle in an upwards turning motion, before going three quarters of a circle downwards and then a quarter up again.

The tiles to your immediate right should now slide to the side and reveal a staircase leading downwards. If you follow that down another 15 metres, you will come upon an iron door, which will open up to a vast room filled with copies of every single book, scroll and artwork that has ever entered Nolondil.

In section 12, row 9, shelf 2, the compiled building plans of Nolondil will be, along with ledgers about your new various acquisitions, expeditions and business ventures that I invested in. I would advise you to pay particular notice to the Blackwood company, as they will try to swindle their way out of the deal that I made with them if they can.

These acquisitions should, if you sell off some and collect the debt of others, be enough for you to rebuild Nolondil if you want to. If you decide to do so, there are no strings attached and no demands that you rebuild it as it was. If I have not stated this clearly before, then let me do so now; everything I owned is yours to do with completely as you wish.'

_Why would he do this and why tell me about it in a letter?_, Loivissa pondered, _and how can I inherit anything if he is not yet dead?_

'Right now, I am betting that you are thinking about why I am telling you this in a letter and not in person. The truth is that I lied. I lied when I told Evandar that I was simply heading out to reseal my armoury, although that is also one of the things that I intend to do before I leave.

I have decided to heed your advice and start living life, instead of simply watching it go by, and have therefore decided to leave Alagaësia for the unknown lands to the west. I intend to use this voyage to figure out who I am and who I want to be, and I have to find my own answers to those questions.

It is therefore that I am leaving you this letter, instead of telling you face to face, as I fear that you would either try to convince me to stay in Alagaësia or try and join me on my voyage. Kilgharrah has agreed to join me(not that I had any say in the matter), but I am afraid that you must not for the time being, as your fate is still tied to that of Alagaësia.

We intend to travel the world on a ship that I had originally had built and stored away in Narda in order to journey to the lands from which humans once came, in order to search for the crown of Palancar, but fate, it seems, has a funny way of thinking ahead. Perhaps I will even stumble upon it during my travels.

It is on this note that I now say goodbye to you.

Yours

Mercury Iridium, former head of the Sidhe and past Lord of Eregion

P.S. Tell your brother that he should investigate why the shade was so interested in causing upheaval in the organization of the riders, focus everyone's attention towards the north and why he was interested in knowing the weather around the year in the coastal cities of Feinster and Aroughs.'

Loivissa was shocked at what she had read; that he had had the nerve to think that she would just accept this. No! She was going to race to Narda and stop him before he could depart. Then she was going to either force him to stay here, or, at the very least, say properly goodbye to her. Not a simple goodbye, left behind in a letter.

All thoughts of curling up in a ball had been forgotten, as she stormed out of the room to Celiste's, who had been waiting outside the door, surprise.

"What are you doing?!", Celiste shrieked as she caught up with Loivissa, "you are supposed to be in bed now, young missy. Not storming through the halls like a bull".

"I am leaving for Narda", Loivissa simply stated without breaking stride.

"What!? No, you most certainly are not!", Celiste yelled at her, "finally, here comes Evan. Evan, tell your sister that she is in no condition to walk around like this, let alone fly to Narda, and that she should return to bed at once".

"Why do you want to go to Narda?", Evandar asked confused, as the two women swept by him.

"Read this!", Loivissa said and forced the letter into Evandar's hands, "start from paragraph eight".

As Evandar tried to both read and keep up with his sister, which was halfway across the courtyard and towards Adûn's accommodations by now, he finally said, "he is leaving?"

"He is trying to!", Loivissa clarified, as she began gathering her saddle and prepare Adûn for travel. Adûn had already resigned himself to the fact that there was nothing he could say that would change her mind, so he simply complied to allow her to get it out of her system.

"I am coming with you", Evandar stated, before beginning to saddle Delvaria.

"Of all the things that he might have rubbed off on you, I really would have wished that it was not his blatant disregard of doing what the healers says that he should", Celiste huffed, before she too began saddling her own dragon, "I guess I need to come with you to ensure that you do not suffer further harm".

The trip to Narda took was considerably shorter this time around, as they did not have to avoid detection, combined with the fact that Mercury and Loivissa never really had hurried on their first trip there. It had now only taken a week's journey to get there, but when they arrived, there was no immediate sign of either Mercury or Kilgharrah.

There was however a plume of smoke rising from the direction of Vroengard, and when they had questioned the townspeople about it, they had been told that a few days ago, a loud explosion-like sound had come from Vroengard, which even made the earth beneath their feet quake, and that the plume had been there ever since.

When Loivissa questioned the dockworkers about whether they had seen a man and a dragon coming by, she had been told by an old one with barely any teeth left that he had seen a pair similar to her description a day before the quake.

They had come at dusk, buying any supplies that they could find, and had then set out on the most magnificent ship that the old man had ever seen. The ship had had three main masts and had had at least three decks above the water, although he was unsure of whether there had been more, as the wood had been painted navy blue, which made the edge between the water's edge and the ship blur. It also seemed that there had been no ballistae or any other kind of weapons on the ship.

The ship had simply floated out of a previously thought unused docking-house, seemingly without any intervention or assistance by wind or oars, and on its deck, the royal purple dragon had lain directly beside a man clad in white robes, like he was some kind of scholar.

The old man had then told what he found to be the most incredible thing of it all, and at this he had sworn that he had not been drunk; the robed man had had shining silver eyes that shone through the darkness. He had at first been terrified that it was he that the ghost had come for, but the robed one had never even spared him a single glance. Instead he always kept his shining gaze out towards the west until the ship was out of sight.

Loivissa had thanked the old man for his help with a few coins, before she had positioned herself on the dock, facing out towards the vast unknown ocean with her brother to her right and Celiste to his right. Loivissa could not help but feel sad that she had been too late, yet more than anything, she thought;

_I will make you proud to have chosen me to be your successor. I will honour your legacy and rebuild it exactly the way it was before, but it shall now become a truer outpost for the riders. Nolondil will become the shining star of the region, the cultural hub where scholars learn and trade ideas. I promise you this_.

Well, perhaps she would make one or two changes after all, like making a bedroom for herself, as the master bedroom would always belong to the true lord of Nolondil.

Should he ever come back to use it, it would always be ready and waiting for him.

* * *

Fist things first: Mercury was not made aware of Loivissa's condition before his departure, as he would have felt obliged to stay behind and help her through this, as she did for him in chapter 19.

Now, unlike last time, I will not be uploading the first chapter of the new series, as it cannot be seen as the same sort of epilogue/prologue as that one could and needs to be read as part of the story that it is within. I will however disclose this information to you: the next story will have to do with origins(figure out what that means. I dare you!)

Goodbye for now, let the moon shine upon your path, and know that I have already planned most of the next story's chapters, and am currently in the midst of preparing my buffer for my next story(but certainly not ready to post any chapters yet)


	28. AN update

The third part of my series, titled From the ashes, a fire shall be woken, has just been released.


End file.
